


Are you okay?

by Faendryl



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Choking, Cuddling & Snuggling, Experimentation, Explicit Language, Hacking, Hiding, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mental Instability, Oral Sex, Rescue, Rough Sex, Smut, Stabbing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 22:05:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 50,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14029776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faendryl/pseuds/Faendryl
Summary: What if... there's this one genuis hacker, his name is Taemin (OC), who has something forbidden going on with his 'new' colleague Stark, who works within the agency for almost two years now. There's also this interesting photographer V with his suspicious girlfriend Rika. Suddenly, everything seems to hit rock bottom for Taemin and he tries to survive, landing at some strange place and being introduced to an interesting fundraising organization and meeting familiar faces again.The story is later slightly oriented on the story of Ray/V-Route, so it could contain slight Spoilers.





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to let you know that English isn't my first language, so I'm sorry for spelling or grammar errors and the lack of fancy wording and shitty dialogues...^^

“Taemin, the deadline is tomorrow. I hope your doing your work properly this time,” Stark said as he stood behind the crimson-haired young man, crossing his arms over his chest. Taemin glanced back and hissed, “I do my work perfectly fine. You should be concerned with the performances of the other team members.”

 

Taemin was typing away on his keyboard, focusing on the strands of numbers at his monitor. “Well, you’re often outside these days. I don’t know how you’re able to analyze the data you’ve got without being here,” The brown-haired male stated. The young hacker pushed back his red hair and sighed heavily. “Stark, I’m not able to tell you my secret in having free time and also being able to get my work done but be assured that everything will be done ‘til the deadline.”

 

With his legs crossed on the office chair, he took his keyboard on his knees and continued typing there. He wasn’t uncomfortable in this position, because he mostly wore harem-sweatpants and either oversized t-shirts or loose tank-tops. “I’m being honest, your efficiency is quite remarkable. I’m more worried about the other members not getting their shit done in time. That doesn’t mean I’m not concerned about you sneaking out the office, when you’re not allowed to,” The older male said with a sigh. “Dude, I’m not a fucking kid.  I will turn twenty this year, I can look out for myself,” Taemin replied slightly angered. Stark shook his head, his shoulder-length hair swaying.

 

Taemin was the best secret-agent within his agency, no one else could deliver such fast and accurate results. He was born and raised under wraps, because his mother was also an agent at the same agency, but she died at a mission when Taemin was ten years old. Since then different members of the agency took care of him, raised and educated him to what he was now. He also got training in several other fields, for example shooting with different guns and some martial arts.

 

The professors and scientists within the agency claimed him a genius. He was a genius and could handle this codes and numbers perfectly like a machine, but he was the worst at socializing, which was disadvantageous for some missions. Which lead to him mostly being in the basement operation-rooms from the agency, analyzing data or collecting the data by hacking into systems and getting assigned to missions, where sneaky agents were required.

 

Stark had left the room to watch over the other team members. That’s when Taemin took this opportunity to open his personally made analyzing program, transferring the collected data to it and let it do its work. He then locked the computer and secretly sneaked out the office again. He didn’t have any friends or something like this, but currently he was very interested in photography. Not really doing it himself but looking at beautiful pictures taken by talented artists. He read that a new exhibition started this week and he was very interested in the collection of one particular photographer called “V”.

 

On his way to the museum he disguised himself with the hood of his black sweater and a big pair of sunglasses. It was not entirely necessary, but since the time some creepy guys from another agency tried to kidnap him, he felt slightly safer this way. At the museum he took off the sunglasses, but let his hood stay on. “Ticket, I need a ticket~” He hummed excited and made his way to the counter. He decided to get a monthly ticket, so he could visit the exhibitions whenever he wanted the next few weeks. After he got his ticket, Taemin sauntered trough the halls, inspecting every work of art displayed on his way. The crimson haired young man wasn’t sure what exactly interested him in art and especially photography, but he liked the fact that he could theorize about the meaning behind each piece of art.

 

After some time, he stood in a room with many bright pictures. “Oh, that’s the “Sun” themed exhibition of V!” He whispered to himself and started inspecting the pictures. Taemin was amazed how much feelings those pictures seemed to deliver. His green eyes appeared to sparkle like light emeralds in the light of the sun as he proceeded his way along the walls. Taemin’s steps came to a halt as he saw a small collection of photos, which had a slightly other theme as the rest. This theme was “space and sun” and one particular picture drew the crimson-haired young man in. It was just mesmerizing, he couldn’t grasp any words at what he felt looking at it. It seemed to be the galaxy with stars and the sun. He unconsciously rose his hand and wanted to touch the picture, but before that could happen someone bumped into him. “I’m so very sorry!” The person next to him exclaimed and he spun his head to the side to look at the other person. Which made the other person stumble a few steps back. “Everything’s cool…,” Taemin murmured and scanned the young woman in front of him up and down.

 

She had long, wavy blonde hair and light green eyes. She was somewhat tiny compared to him. If he stood upright he measured 182 cm. “You prevented me from touching this beautiful piece of art. It absolutely had me within its seductive embrace, ready to devour me,” He babbled without much thought. As soon as he realized what he just did, Taemin pulled on the edges of his hood to cover his face more. The blonde young woman slung her thin fingers around his wrist and stopped him from pulling the hood further. Taemin froze on the spot, he hated it when someone touched him without his consent and what was even more revolting, was the fact that the touch of this woman felt terribly malicious. With a stone-hard expression he turned to look at the young woman again. Telling her with his eyes that she should better get her hand off him.

 

She smiled a sweet and innocent smile, but her eyes were speaking a very different language. “Don’t, your face is so very beautiful,” She said in a low voice, removing her fingers from his wrist, just to pull the hood completely from his head, what caused some strands of his crimson hair to fall into his face. Taemin had medium-length crimson hair combed to the left side of his head, the longest strands reached slightly under his jaw. At the right side of his head he had a black side-cut. His parting wasn’t in the middle; it was located more to the right side of his head, so that he had more long red hair, which was also stepped. His facial features were a mixture between manly edged and feminine. His jaw for example was very sharp, also his cheekbones stood out and his eyebrows were pointy and let his expression look somewhat evil. But the flow of his facial features, the slightly round shape of his eyes, his slightly full lips and his button nose made his face a little feminine.

 

“Why are you hiding yourself from the world?” The woman asked curious, but Taemin wasn’t in a mood for a conversation with someone who invaded his personal space like this. “Oh my! Where are my manners? I was so distracted from your beauty. My name is Rika, nice to meet you!” Rika smiled, again this absolutely fake-smile, and extended her hand for Taemin to shake it. “Taemin…,” He muttered but didn’t take her hand. Just thinking about touching her skin again gave him goosebumps. “There you are Rika,” Someone said while approaching them. Taemin rose his eyes and met with a pair of vibrant mint-colored eyes. He felt like lightning had struck him, as soon as he took in the person next to Rika. The young man also had mint-colored hair, which looked totally fluffy and shiny. The young hacker was at a loss of words and just stared at the man before him.

 

“Are you okay?” The mint-colored man asked concerned. After a few more seconds had passed, Taemin came back to his senses and blushed heavily. “I-I’m so, so sorry…,” He breathed out, throw his hood back up and fled from the exhibition hall. He temporary ran into the bathroom section and locked himself in one of the cabins, catching his breath. As a nervous habit, he opened the laces of his boots and bind them again. Taemin did this on both of his ten-eye boots. “I’m like a fucking stray cat being scared off. What the fuck, Taemin get your shit together…” The crimson-haired young man hissed at himself and flinched as his phone began to ring.

 

With shaky hands he extracted his phone from the pocket of his sweater. ‘Incoming call – Stark’ A sigh escaped his mouth and he braced himself to answer the call. “Yes?” Taemin asked wary. On the other side he could hear an angry breath before he heard the angry lecture. “Where are you?” Taemin got the chills from Starks tone. “Musuem…” He whispered, sitting on the toilet lid with his legs pressed against his chest and burring his face into the knees. “Get your lazy ass over here in ten minutes. If you are not here by then… Oh, don’t let this happen Taemin!” Taemin shivered just at the thought of what may happen if he didn’t obey at this. “Sure…,” He ended the call and stormed out of the building, running as fast as he could, because the office was at least a twenty-minute walk away from here.

 

Panting and sweating he stood in the entrance hall of the agency’s operating office. “Now look what we have here. A little stubborn kitten, which just can’t do something as told,” Stark’s voice was full of venom, which made Taemin’s stomach turn. “Sorry… Stark, I’m sorry. I didn’t neglect my work,” The young hacker began to plead. “Really? And how are you supposed to not neglect your work when you are not here?” Stark asked sarcastically. Taemin pressed his jaws together and gritted his teeth. “Fine, follow me.” He eventually hissed and beckoned Stark to follow him. Taemin unlocked his computer and was presented with the finalized analyzation of the previous collected data. The crimson haired hacker presented his results to Stark. “I’m done with everything,” He turned in his chair to look at Stark, who looked dumbfounded at the screen.

 

“Did you do, what I think you did?” Stark asked still incredulously. “That’s… I don’t want anybody else to use this. First, they wouldn’t understand how it works and second, they would just abuse it. I-I don’t want my hard work to be abused by a bunch of airheads,” Taemin stuttered. Stark stepped right next to Taemin and inspected the program on the screen. “Can you show me the details?” He then asked without averting his eyes from the screen. The red-haired young man gulped, his throat felt dry. After a while he opened the source code of the program. “That’s one hell of a code! Where did you even get this from? Are you sure you’re a human being and not some android experiment?” Stark asked laughing unbelievingly. “I had some free time, you know when I was… hurt from one of the missions. I used the time in bed to make this,” Taemin’s voice was low, he wasn’t sure why, but he was somewhat embarrassed. “Oh, I know. It was our first mission together. I’m terribly sorry for what happened back there,” The brown-haired man apologized.

 

“Please, don’t tell anybody about this program. As you might know, as an agent we live to the rule ‘trust nobody’, but I hope I wasn’t wrong in trusting you,” The young hacker said and looked Stark into his light brown eyes. Stark flashed him a smile, that was a super rare occasion and made his heart flutter a bit. Taemin smiled back shily. “Thank you, Taemin. You can be assured, that I’m not going to tell anybody about this.” The crimson-haired young man sighed relieved and brushed his hair back with his fingers. “I saw something really beautiful today at the museum. Do you think it’s alright to take a look at it tomorrow again?” He asked cautiously. Taemin wasn’t sure if he referred to the space picture or to the mint-color-haired young man he saw. It was impossible for him to forget his vibrant eyes and his beautiful aura. The young woman instead gave him the creepiest chills ever. He hoped that he hadn’t have to see her again. “I’ll cover for you, if someone else will ask for you,” Stark said smiling again, which surprised Taemin. Stark never smiled that often in such a short time.

-

The night was a struggle for Taemin. He was plagued with faceless nightmares. He would wake up totally drenched and his heart racing, clearly signs of a nightmare, but he never could grasp any memories about those horrid dreams. However, this night was different. He had a nightmare, but this time he could see the face of his horrors clearly and remembered it when he woke up. The face and the touch, that haunted him, was that of Rika. The blonde young woman from the museum. She clearly seemed like a nice, wonderful person judging from her appearance, but Taemin somehow was able to feel when a person’s outer appearance didn’t match with their inner thoughts. This ‘gorgeous’ young lady named Rika wasn’t a nice girl, he could tell the moment her eyes betrayed her smile and the feeling of her touch emphasized everything.

 

The result wasn’t worthwhile. Taemin nearly got three to four hours of sleep. If it could be called ‘sleep’. He could also see the result in the mirror. His skin was china pale, so the dark circles under his eyes were striking. “You look like shit. What happened?” Someone asked while rummaging trough one of the bath drawers. Stark had entered the room without Taemin noticing. “Nightmares…,” murmured Taemin still sleepy. “I’m sorry little kitten. Let me help you,” The brown-haired man cooed and stroked trough Taemin’s hair. Taemin sighed relaxed as he savored the touch. Stark was one of very little people, who were allowed to touch him without asking beforehand. Said man seated himself on the rim of the bathtub and indicated Taemin to place himself in front of Stark. Taemin let himself slide down into a cross-legged position and leaned his back against the bathtub. The brown-haired man roughly removed the big tangled hair strands from each other, then he begun brushing Taemin’s hair with a paddle-brush. “Feel’s so nice…,” The crimson-haired young man purred. “You’re definitely a kitten,” Stark chuckled and messaged the younger man’s head with his fingertips.

 

Taemin rested his head against one thigh of the other man and closed his eyes pleased. The fingertips made their way from his scalp to his nape, where they drew tickly circles. “Aren’t we a good kitten today?” Stark asked amused, trailing his fingers over Taemin’s jaws to his temples. “I’m tired as fuck and your touch just feels so freaking nice right now…,” The young hacker muttered sleepy with his eyes closed. The older man laughed a little and said, “Can you, for once, speak without swearing so much?” As an answer the younger one slightly shook his head. “Bad kitten…,” Stark whispered into Taemin’s ear, which elicited a soft shiver from his body.

 

Their relationship couldn’t be defined by any standards. They both were lonely secret-agency-agents, living, but at the same time non-existent in the whole wide world. They didn’t really love each other, they just connected on some level. Both didn’t feel awkward with the other. No much words were needed between them. Stark liked teasing Taemin and Taemin liked to be teased and taken care of. So, did they love one another? Not really, they just harmonized. Did they have a serious relationship with each other? Nah. Just fooling around. Did they have a sexual relationship with each other? Maybe. They are both still rather young and needy. Gender also didn’t play a big role for both.

 

“Stark? If you want something, you can politely ask the little kitten if it could provide you with something,” Taemin purred, slightly pressing his head against Stark’s crotch. A faint gasp escaped Stark’s mouth before he answered, “Heh, are you sure that I need something provided? Don’t you think the little kitten is quite bold today, because it’s the one in need of something to be provided?” The younger man chuckled and looked up straight into light brown eyes. “Or maybe the care-taker and the kitten need something provided?” He asked with a sly smirk. Stark couldn’t contain a smirk either. “You’re especially naughty today kitten,” He said in a taunting tone, but at the same time let his hand’s graze down Taemin’s chest. As a response Taemin arched his back with a low sigh. Suddenly someone banged against the bathroom door with such force, that both were flinching hard. “You’re not the only ones living and working here. Get your asses out before I smash the door,” Someone said clearly pissed at the other side of the door. Taemin and Stark gathered themselves and escaped the bath quickly. The one who threatened to smash the door was a big guy of the team. He mostly was in charge for security and body guarding. He knowingly looked at Stark and gave Taemin a predatory glance as if the red-haired young man was his prey.

 

“I didn’t like that look in his face…,” Taemin confessed and a disgusted shiver ran down his spine. “Don’t you worry little kitten. I won’t let any filthy predatory lay a single finger on you,” The brown-haired man assured. They both laid on the bed in Stark’s bedroom; Stark with his back against the headboard and Taemin with his head on the others lap. After a while of silence Stark’s phone got off. “What now?” He asked annoyed and tried to reach for his phone on the nightstand. “Yeah?” He answered the phone. He just listened to the other person on the line with an expressionless face. “Okay, got it,” Stark said before hanging up. “I’m sorry Taemin, but I regrettably have to decline your generous offer for providing your services to me. Work’s calling me in…” Stark sighed while rolling his eyes. Taemin smiled at him and got off the bed. “Well, have a nice day then,” Taemin answered and disappeared before Stark could answer with anything.

 

Taemin wasn’t truly disappointed or frustrated about what happened, because they got plenty of opportunities ahead and he was now on his way to the museum. Hoping that he must not see that angelic face with those devilish eyes, but instead could admire vibrant mint-colored eyes or just his beautiful pictures. As he entered the museum he removed again just his sunglasses and let the hood stay on. Because of the short night Taemin decided to make a quick side-trip to the cafeteria for a good cup of black coffee. What he didn’t expected though was seeing this silky mint-colored hair and luckily without the blonde locks. “Good morning,” A gentle voice approached Taemin and as he rose his gaze he met with mint-colored eyes. The crimson-haired hacker thought his heart would stop, it indeed somewhat stopped, but beat with doubled speed afterwards. “Uh, ah… hi,” Was all he could manage to say. “You are the one from yesterday, right? I’m very sorry if I did something inappropriate for you to bask out like this. Ah, before I forget that, my name is V,” V said smiling. Taemin thought his heart would melt on the spot and if not that, it would run away with lightning speed. “No, no! You didn’t do anything wrong. I-I, well… I was just a little startled by Rika,” The younger man answered.

 

Before V asked for any explanation he brought Taemin a cup of coffee and invited him to sit with him. “That’s more comfortable for a conversation don’t you agree?” The photographer asked, again smiling softly. Taemin just nodded and sipped on his black coffee. He decided to take off his hood, good table manners and what not… “Rika is your girlfriend?” Taemin assumed loudly and V nodded as an answer. The young man thought he had to die on the spot. His heart clenched at that thought. Such a gentle and warm person as V was dating such a snake? “I would be ten times better than her…” He thought to himself. “Are you alright?” V asked a little concerned. The crimson-haired young man looked up from the table and stared at V’s beautiful eyes and face features. “Am I alright? Am I? Probably not, but there is nothing I could do about this,” The younger male answered.

 

“You said that yesterday Rika startled you. What exactly happened?” The mint-color-haired man asked curios. “When I tell you this, you either won’t believe me or you would maybe feel offended, because she’s your girlfriend,” Taemin said and sipped at his coffee again. “You can tell me. I am no one to not believe someone without hearing their explanations for things, that maybe wouldn’t be believed otherwise. And even if she’s my girlfriend, that does not mean that I feel offended when you are talking about her,” V answered in his gentle voice and Taemin longed for leaning against him. He quickly regained his composure und looked V dead in the eye. “Nothing serious happened. I just don’t like to be touched without my consent. She just gripped my wrist and pulled down my hood, nothing more…,” Taemin answered and held his cup between his hands.

 

“She gripped your wrist?” V asked surprised. Taemin just nodded slightly and shifted on his seat. It wasn’t easy to see what V was thinking about. He seemed somewhat concerned. “Did she say anything to you?” He then asked with the same concerned expression. “She just asked why I would hide myself from the world and that she was distracted by my ‘beauty’,” The redhead murmured still staring in his cup. V let out a sigh and then smiled gently. “I’m sorry. Rika does act impulsive sometimes,” The older male apologized for the behavior of his girlfriend. “I think she saw something within you. Something that attracted her, you must know she has very sensible senses. So, Rika seems to see, or sense things others can’t,” V explained still smiling. At this, Taemin gritted his teeth, because he can sense things too and he sensed that Rika is a malicious being. The younger man shook his head slightly and sighed. “I wasn’t able to look at all your photographs, because of what happened. That’s why I came back. I left of at this very beautiful picture, which was otherworldly mesmerizing,” Taemin said and his expression lightened up immediately.

 

Both men walked to V’s exhibition and Taemin stopped at the galaxy picture. “That’s the one I mentioned,” He said with a low voice. “I was so captivated by it, that I was about to touch it. That’s when Rika stopped me by bumping into me…,” Taemin explained his voice lowering to the end of the sentence. V looked at the crimson-haired man then to the picture. “The picture looks so beautiful, but it somehow feels dangerous. It feels like a seductive embrace and if you let yourself fall into the embrace, it will devour you whole,” said Taemin while staring at the picture again. V whereas looked at Taemin, genuinely surprised by his description. “So, you have this ability too?” The older man asked carefully. The redhead glanced sideways and shrugged his shoulders. “Who knows…,” He whispered and directed his eyes on the other pictures, which he couldn’t watch yesterday. “You are really talented. It really is astonishing how you can capture such beauty with so much emotion. Sometimes it really feels heartbreaking,” Taemin was again babbling out his thoughts.

 

After a while he stepped to the side, right into V. He didn’t expect him to be so close and his heart almost stopped at the contact. “S-sorry…,” He breathed out and stepped backwards, but was stopped by an arm around his shoulders. Which prevented him from bumping into another visitor. The arm was removed quickly with an apology. “Are you okay? I didn’t intent to touch you out of the blue. I just didn’t want you to collide with the other person,” V brought some space between them and Taemin was slightly confused until he remembered, that he told V that he didn’t like to be touched. Taemin hid his face behind his hands and wished to just disappear on the spot. “I’m such an embarrassing person. I’m so pitiful. Stark is right… I shouldn’t go outside this much, it’s just not made for me,” He thought and was about to burst out of the museum again, when V stopped him. “Wait!” Taemin stilled his movements and glanced back. “What’s your name?” V asked again with his gentle voice and Taemin looked dumbfounded. “I… my name… Taemin,” He stuttered and blushed. “Taemin, you’re an outstanding person. I hope to see you again sometime,” V smiled and nodded at the younger man. Taemin nodded back and rushed back to the agency building.

 

Taemin sat at his desk, headphones on and typing away on his keyboard. He came into the office just to find plenty unread e-mails from his boss, which included many but simple tasks for him to clear. The young man knew that those tasks weren’t his in the first place, those were tasks the other team members weren’t able to finish, because they were stuck with their bigger tasks or missions. The crimson-haired young man had removed his hoodie and sat in the office in a very loose tank-top, which exposed half of his chest and back, where he had many tattoos. His tattoos looked somewhat futuristic and consisted of code-strings and black lines. The tattoos were placed on his chest to his neck, crawling over his shoulders and upper arms to his back, where the tattoos reached from between his shoulder blades to his nape. Of course, the tattoos had meaning to him, but he mostly wouldn’t answer if asked about them. The only answers someone might get would be that getting them hurt and that there’s a meaning to them.

 

“You’re back already,” Stark said when he entered the room, but Taemin didn’t hear him, because of the headphones. “He never learns to sit like a normal human at his desk,” The brown-haired man thought while rolling up the sleeves of his lavender-purple shirt. The redhead had one leg lying under him on the chair and the other one bent with the foot on the seat of the chair. His chin rested on the knee, while he typed on his keyboard. Stark approached Taemin and tickled him at the nape, which caused Taemin to flinch a little and sliding back his headphones. “Don’t do that again!” He hissed while glaring at Stark. “I didn’t know you were home already. And what are you doing there, anyway?” The brown-haired man asked pointing at the screens. Taemin looked at him with a frown. “Working? As soon as I opened my e-mails, there was a bunch of new tasks from the boss. All tiny, easy tasks, which are near their deadlines and needed to be completed. I assume our team members couldn’t finish them on time. Sometimes it really pains me, that I am working so fast. I should try to take my time with the missions, so I don’t end up doing all the leftover work,” The younger man grumbled.

 

Stark smiled at Taemin and asked, “Did you have anything to eat?” Which Taemin answered with a head-shaking. Sighing, Stark left the room to get Taemin something to eat. The young hacker finished the current task and switched to his notebook, which certainly were a modified compute-monster too, but Taemin used it mostly for personal reasons or on missions. He typed in one of the search-machines ‘V photographer’ and got many results. V was indeed a famous photographer, at least within Korea. He and Rika also lead a fundraising organization called ‘R.F.A.’. Taemin opened a website, which appeared to be something like a wiki of V. There Taemin learned V’s real name – Jihyun Kim. “Jihyun… Uh, what a nice name. Does suit him though,” Taemin whispered to himself and scrolled through the site some more, looking at the pictures. “He does have some interesting connections…,” The redhead stated, when he read that one of the R.F.A members seemed to be Jumin Han. The director and hire of C&R, one of the biggest companies in the country. Then, the door swung open and Stark entered the room with two plates of food. “There, there our little kitten needs to eat properly,” He said, placing the plate on the table and seating himself next to Taemin.

 

The room, Taemin was working in, was at the same time his living and bedroom. It was a big loft room with a little stairway, it just contained 4 steps, which somewhat separated the room in two partitions. There were no windows, because it was underground. In the first partition, which was the upper one, he had two desks, one with his computer and 4 screens, the other contained piles of papers, related to his work and opposite of the desks he had a table with some chairs. In the lower partition he had his king-sized bed, a sofa with a coffee table and a TV. In between Taemin placed some shelves and a dresser for his books and clothing. The floor consisted of black tiles, which where heated. The walls did have a glossy texture and were partially white and black. Taemin installed some black lights in addition to the normal lights in the room, so the white parts of the room, be it the walls or the furniture, would glow. In his bedroom partition Taemin also had a starry sky projector, which looked really good on the black ceiling.

 

“Did I mention, that you were right?” Taemin broke the silence, which occurred while they were eating. Stark tilted his head and looked a little puzzled. Taemin put back the plate on the table and looked Stark in his light brown eyes. “I’m so bad at talking with other people, especially strangers. I went to the museum today and talked with one of the artists… I don’t know, but he probably thinks I’m weird or whatever…” Taemin sighed, pressing his knees against his chest. “The only thing I can do, when I’m going outside, is to embarrass myself or the people around me. So, maybe it really is the best thing for me to stay inside,” He continued and laid his forehead on his knees. Stark blinked, put aside his plate and fondled Taemin’s back with his hand. “You know little kitten, you shouldn’t take everything to heart what I or somebody else tells you. Sure, we all know that you’re not the best at socializing with people, but that does not imply, that you shouldn’t leave the house,” Stark said with a soothing voice. The redhead felt a little tug at his heart and felt a little helpless. He concentrated on Stark’s touch and leaned against the other male.

 

Stark lifted his hand to Taemin’s hair and massaged his scalp with his fingertips. “The best thing to do for improving your social skills is to go outside and interact with other persons. You spent too much time with binary codes, even if you maybe understand them better as you understand other people,” The brown-haired man said, still ruffling through the crimson hair. “I told him, that I don’t like being touched without my consent. I accidently bumped slightly into him, I abruptly stepped aside, and he prevented the worst by lying his arm around my shoulders. He then removed his arm fast from my shoulders, because I told him beforehand, that I didn’t like to be touched,” Taemin told, fidgeting with the seam of his top. He let out a heavy sigh before he continued, “He felt good. It was really strange, normally I need a lot of time before I’m comfortable with someone. You know that yourself, heh. But with him it was different. When I accidently bumped into him, the contact felt so warm and just good. His arm around me was not unwelcomed and every time he smiled or spoke to me with his gentle voice, the urge to just lean against him and give myself to him was so strong. I don’t know what is wrong with me…” Stark gasped surprised and his hand in Taemin’s hair stilled for a moment. “Don’t Taemin, don’t let feelings like this reach out to you. I-I know that it is easier said than done, but believe me, it wouldn’t do you any good as a secret agent,” The older agent said with a low voice, hugging Taemin with both arms now.

 

Taemin thought about Stark’s words. ‘Feelings like this…’ Can I have feelings for someone I just met? Taemin was confused and shook his head. He slung his arms around Stark too and buried his face at his left shoulder. “I shouldn’t go there anymore, should I?” Taemin asked quietly and in response Stark hugged him a little tighter. “Even if I wanted to tell you something else, but if you have this kind of strong feelings towards him, you maybe shouldn’t go there for the time being,” The older agent answered softly. The crimson-haired hacker shivered and got goosebumps all over his body. “If you’re cold, you should put on some clothes,” Stark scolded him and held him an arm length away to look at him. “Or you make it warm for me…,” The younger agent whispered seductively and winked.

 

He wanted to distract himself from his thoughts about mint-colored eyes and hair. The only person who could distract him was right beside him. Stark joined their agency and especially his team one and a half year ago. In the beginning they both were wary of each other, but soon they realized that they harmonized with each other.  They spent a hell lot of time together, just chit chatting or complaining about the other team members, talking about books and this and that. Eventually they came to the point, where they connected on another level, that’s when they started to use their bodies to relieve some stress. Stark teased Taemin from the beginning and calling him little kitten, because Taemin just acts like one most of the time, but they took this into the sheets too. Stark had a slight sadistic touch in his personality and Taemin was a good counterpart, being the slightly stubborn, submissive little kitten, he always was.

 

Taemin let go of Stark and snuck away gracefully into the nether partition and on his bed. Where he lolled himself in the sheets. Stark glanced around the corner and smirked. “You little naughty kitten,” He said whilst walking towards the bed. Stark lowered onto the bed and observed Taemin, who crawled on top of Stark. The younger man steadied himself with his hands on both sides of Stark’s head, then bent down to kiss him softly. Stark returned the kiss and let his hands slip underneath Taemin’s tank-top to feel his skin. Taemin was a little cold, so Stark let his hands slide up and down over his back, then tickling the younger one at his ribs. Taemin hissed as an answer and bit Stark slightly in his lower lip, who responded with a devilish smirk. The brown-haired man pulled Taemin at his nape down into an open-mouthed kiss. Their tongues poking each other, entwining passionately whilst Stark’s hands sliding down Taemin’s back to his hips, where he pulled him down. Taemin let himself pulled down by Stark and pressed his lower body against Stark’s. Arousal rising in both of them, like water beginning to boil.

 

Taemin sat up and grinned down at the older agent, at the same time he shoved his hands under Stark’s shirt, up to his nipples, which he teased between his fingers, pinching them now and then. Stark gasping at the touch, reached for Taemin’s waistband and let his hands slip into the back, where he kneaded his soft cheeks. The redhead bent down again, arching his back, to kiss Stark again. “Your hands feel so good,” Taemin purred and licked down Stark’s neck to his collar bones, which he scraped slightly with his teeth. Sliding his hands under the shirt again, but this time to pull it up and over the other mans head. Now that Stark’s chest laid bare before him, Taemin playfully licked his lips and started to trace kisses down the others chest. Swirling his tongue around each nipple, caressing the sides of his body with his hands. The crimson haired young man slipped down on Stark’s legs, so that he could reach the button of the pants better, which he skillfully opened with one hand, sliding down the zipper too and trailing wet kisses from the chest over the belly. Stark observed every move from Taemin, glancing down to him with darkened eyes. Stark stroked his fingers trough crimson hair and lifted his butt for Taemin to remove his pants and underwear.

 

The younger male tossed the clothing onto the floor. His groins tugging in anticipation of what pleasure would follow. But first he bent down again, letting his tongue slide down from the belly button, evading Stark’s crotch and then kissing up and down his thighs. Sucking on the sensible flesh, leaving marks in its wake. Taemin didn’t go straight for the shaft, first he kissed and licked over the testicles, softly sucking on them. Coincidently stroking Stark’s waist and hips. He could hear the older agent panting and trying to suppress his moaning. Taemin moved his tongue to the shaft, licking it up and down, circling the glans and teasing its slit. Then he took Stark’s cock completely in his mouth, softly sucking it. “Fuck Taemin…,” Stark breathed out and slid his fingers into crimson hair again. Taemin’s mouth just felt great. So slick and hot, adapting just fine around his length. Furthermore, Taemin swallowed him down completely without even flinching. Stark could feel the muscle contractions of Taemin’s throat on his head, that felt amazing. Taemin begun bobbing his head up and down, sucking with varying intensities, pressing his tongue against the back of his shaft and completely swallowing him back down his throat again. Stark couldn’t contain his moans anymore and let them out. His body burning hot with pleasure, striving further to release. But before he was about to come, Stark pulled Taemin up from his cock on his hair.

 

Taemin looked up to him, panting and licking his lips. Stark could feel his cock throbbing just from looking at the redhead. “I bet our naughty little kitten got rock hard just from sucking me off,” Stark said, his fist still in Taemin’s hair. “Am I right?” He then asked demanding. Taemin rocked his hips a little, to get some friction on his straining cock. “Yes, you’re right… you’re always right…,” Taemin panted grinding his crotch against Stark’s. The brown-haired man smirked and held Taemin by his hips, to reverse their positions. Now Taemin was lying on the bed and Stark was hovering above him. Stark slowly undressed Taemin, in passing planting kisses and soft bites on his body. Stark was admiring Taemin’s pale skin, it felt smooth and soft under his fingertips, tasted wonderful under his lips and tongue. Stark thought that hickies and bruises are beautiful on Taemin’s skin, because they were so visible. That’s why he always made sure to left behind some of them without making too much damage.

 

As Taemin was completely undressed, Stark observed him from head to toe and back. Caressing him with his eyes. “Such an elegant kitten,” Stark whispered and traced down Taemin’s sides with his fingernails, just slightly scratching. In response, Taemin arched his back and bit his bottom lip. The older agent let his right hand slowly glide up Taemin’s body again, just to put his palm on his throat and his fingers gripping around his neck. Stark could see the flash of lust in the younger one’s eyes. After a short while, where he just waited with his hand softly around Taemin’s neck, he squeezed his carotid artery and at the same time grazed his hard cock with his finger-tips. As he squeezed a little harder, he could feel Taemin’s length twitching under his hand, Stark counted down to five in his head and released his fingers from the redhead’s neck. Taemin gasped for air but simultaneously moaned, bucking his hips and arching his back. Stark leaned forward and kissed Taemin’s neck, at the same time letting his hard cock slide into his hand and stroking the shaft painfully slow. “St-Stark… please…,” Taemin moaned and brought up his hips again, to get some friction on Stark’s hand. “Please what?” Stark asked defiant, gently biting into the pale flesh on Taemin’s neck.

 

The crimson-haired young man whimpered and breathed out, “M-more, touch me more… u-use me more…” Again, a devilish grin creeped onto Stark’s face and he fisted Taemin’s cock, pumping him harder and faster than before. Taemin slung his arms around Stark’s back and scratched him, while he tried to get a hold. “Naughty little kitten…,” Stark whispered lascivious, moving his hand on Taemin’s cock in a steady rhythm. As soon as he felt that the younger one was close to cumming, he completely let go of his shaft, which elicited a frustrated whine from Taemin. “Who said, that you can come without even asking?” The brown-haired man asked lecturing, sitting up again. Taemin let his arms fall to his sides, he was sweating and heavily panting, when he looked up into Stark’s face. “S-sorry, I’m sorry…,” He tried to apologize. With a firm grip, Stark showed Taemin that he should turn around. “On your knees, ass up and face down.” He ordered with a strict voice, pushing Taemin down between his shoulder-blades. Taemin obeyed and clawed his fingers into the pillow. “Do you know what happens to naughty kittens?” Stark asked gravely. Taemin smirked into the pillow, his cock throbbing from excitement. He didn’t answer, just shook his head. That’s when the older male fisted his hair and pulled up his head. “Are you sure about that answer?” He asked with a growl. “Yes, show me,” Taemin said provocative.

 

Stark leaned forward and whispered in Taemin’s ear, “Release.” Taemin just nodded. It was their safe word. In case something would be too much for one of them. Before Taemin could comprehend what Stark was about to do, he already heard the slap and felt the hot sting on his cheek. He gasped, clawed his nails deeper in the pillow and clenched his teeth, in preparation for more slaps to come.

 

With every stroke his cheeks felt more hot and stingy, but it felt oddly good. The heat spreading out and the pain was a good kind of pain, which lead to Taemin moaning and rocking his hips. Suddenly Stark switched to squeezing and kneading his ass, that hurt just a little and Taemin winced. Slender fingers trailing down Taemin’s spine, giving him goosebumps, then he felt wet kisses on his sore cheeks. The kisses where replaced by moist licks and Stark spreading Taemin’s tender cheeks apart. His tongue lapping around his entrance. “F-Fuck Stark…,” Taemin hissed, but ended up moaning loudly when Stark begun to stroke his cock again. Stark didn’t stop what he was doing and reached underneath the pillow, to grab the bottle of lube, Taemin always stored there.

 

The older agent gave Taemin’s entrance one last lick and simultaneously slapped one cheek again, before he coated his fingers with a thick layer of warming lube. Stark began rubbing his fingers against the entrance, to spread the lube a little. After a moment he let one finger slip into Taemin, who grunted with arousal. The brown-haired man slowly moved his finger in and out for a while, before adding a second finger. He then searched for Taemin’s sweet spot by bending and twisting his fingers inside. When Stark felt the bundle of nerves under his finger tips and heard Taemin whimper, he knew he found the right spot. Stark started to move his fingers with a faster pace and aimed for Taemin’s prostate every time. Taemin’s legs started to tremble, because of the constant stimulation of such a sensitive spot and he arched his back even lower. “S-stark… I-I’m gonna…,” Taemin moaned, clutching the pillow underneath him. Immediately Stark stopped his movements. “No, not yet, little naughty kitten,” He breathed near Taemin’s ear and kissed his shoulders.

 

Starks body were right above Taemin’s and he started grinding his erection between Taemin’s cheeks. “You feel so good little kitten,” Stark moaned lustful and nibbled at Taemin’s nape. Taemin growled frustrated, “Fuck me already!” That outburst caused a chuckle from Stark. “Aren’t we impatient today?” He asked amused but was already spreading lube over his cock and at Taemin’s entrance again. Stark’s hands moved to Taemin’s hips and he placed the tip of his cock right onto Taemin’s entrance. “Are you sure you’re ready?” Stark asked once again and as a reply Taemin pushed his ass against Stark’s cock. The older agent moved his hips just a little forward and his cockhead entered Taemin’s tight heat. “God, so tight…,” He moaned with pleasure. Taemin let out a pleased sigh and pushed himself further on Stark’s shaft. “Fill me up Stark, make me feel so full and good…,” Taemin begged moaning. Stark tightened his grip around Taemin’s hips and started moving slowly in and out of Taemin’s inviting heat. “M-more, please more…,” Taemin wailed again and again. That’s when the brown-haired man brushed his fingers into crimson hair and fisted it. With a tight grip on Taemin’s hair, he pulled Taemin up and started fucking him harder and faster.

 

“Yes, just like that… go deeper…,” Taemin moaned shamelessly and arched his back even more. Stark pulled Taemin just a little higher, that is when the angle was just right and Stark hit Taemin’s sweet spot with every thrust. Stark’s hand moved from the crimson hair to the throat, pulling him further back, so his back rested against Stark’s chest. Holding Taemin in place, while squeezing his throat again. Taemin rolled back his eyes and gave Stark’s chin a playful lick. “Turn,” Stark whispered and let go of Taemin’s throat. Taemin let himself fall on the sheets, catching his breath for a moment before he turned around, spreading his legs for Stark again. He smirked tantalizing, holding his hands like paws above his belly, tilting his head and tried to imitate an actual kitten. “Meow,” Stark stared down at Taemin and flushed, feeling his cock throbbing hard. “You’re so fucking adorable…,” He groaned, gripping both of Taemin’s thighs, spreading his legs even wider and entering him again. Taemin threw back his head and arched his back, again moaning shamelessly.

 

Stark thrusted into Taemin’s tight, inviting heat and moaning with him in unison. He released his hands from Taemin’s thighs, one hand placed at the side of Taemin’s head, the other one creeping up his throat again. Stark leaned forward, pressing his lips on Taemin’s and simultaneously beginning to squeeze at his carotid again. Taemin pulled Stark down into a passionate tongue kiss, while savoring the intense feeling of being choked. He was weak to such playthings in bed, of course with the right people. He loved the feeling of Stark’s slender fingers around his neck, squeezing down on his carotid, his oxygen supply being restricted, accompanied by this dazzling lightheaded feeling. His tongue intertwined with Stark’s, while he became more and more giddy and felt so full, Stark’s big cock grinding over his sweetest spot every thrust.

 

All these sensations made Taemin see stars and his whole body was shivering from pleasure. Stark played with the intensities of how tight he squeezed Taemin’s neck, so that he wouldn’t fell unconscious. He felt Taemin’s body tensing and his breath becoming more shallow and ragged. “Stark, please… I-I’m going to come… please, please lemme… c-come…,” Taemin begged, his eyes filling with tears of pleasure. Stark slowed down his thrusts for a moment to say, “Then come for me, be a good little kitten and come for me, all over your face.” He moved one hand to one of Taemin’s thighs, placing Taemin’s legs on his shoulders, Stark leaning forward, so if Taemin was about to come, his cum would highly likely land in his face. Taemin whimpered at the strain of his back but was back to moaning, when Stark continued fucking him in a fast and hard pace, still choking him.

 

Taemin raised his arms, wrapping them around Stark, clawing in his back, leaving bloody scratches in their wake. “Yes… oh fuck please, Stark… deeper… let me come, please…,” Taemin begged while moaning loudly. Stark’s fingertips stroking over Taemin’s cock, at the same time he thrusted in him as deep and hard as he could. Taemin suddenly tensed even more, crying out loud and spurting cum all over his face. “Oh fuck, you’re just too sexy…,” Stark said, thrusting himself over the edge and spilling his load of hot cum into Taemin. He loosened the grip on his throat, bending down to pull Taemin into a hard kiss. Stark collapsed onto the bed besides Taemin, both were panting and feeling blissfully boneless. “Dammit Stark… that was so fucking good,” Taemin said, still a little breathless. “And totally needed,” Stark added with a chuckle. Taemin just hummed as an answer and laid his head on Starks shoulder. “Just… a little bit ‘kay?” Taemin mumbled and closed his eyes. Stark felt a smile appearing on the edges of his mouth. He decided to let the little kitten rest for bit, ruffled through his crimson hair and wiping of the cum from Taemin’s face.

 

**Vanderwood: Hey Agent 707, do you think I could transfer one of their agents to our agency?**

**707: hey, hey Madame! Lolololol, did you hit your head or something?**

**Vanderwood: No, I definitely did not. So, would it be possible or not? I mean he is really skilled, I would dare to say, that he would be able to defeat you.**

**707: Ya know… if you would bring him here, the only thing you were allowed to, would be interrogating him and if there are no more useful answers, you would have to execute him on the spot. And why would you want to transfer an enemy to us?**

**Vanderwood: He is on my team, you certainly know what will happen to those on my team after everything is done. It would be such a waste for so much skill and talent.**

**707: haaah, that is troubling. What we could try is to recruit him after the mission. That would require a little hiding from him, so he don’t get hunted down from his agency before. I hope you didn’t tell him something…?**

**Vanderwood: Of course not, and I’m not about to do so. It’s just so frustrating, the entire team is a bunch of idiots, but he is evidently a genius. Oh right, he also created an analyzing program by himself, that program is marvelous and just used by him. His agency doesn’t know about it.**

**707:  Then you know what to do, right?**

**Vanderwood: right, I hope the mission will be a success.**

Stark put aside his phone and lit up a cigarette. He stood at the back entrance of the agency building, relaxing his irritated thoughts. He knew it was reckless of him, to have such an intimate and close relationship with one of the enemies, but he couldn’t bring himself to see Taemin as an enemy. Stark didn’t really ‘love’ him, but Taemin was precious to him and Stark genuinely wanted to transfer Taemin to his actual agency. But his mission was to infiltrate the agency Taemin was born and raised in, steal their data and destroying them in the end. Which would definitely lead to the execution of the team members within Stark’s team. He knew how secret agencies worked and even if those people didn’t know a single thing about Stark being a spy, they wouldn’t be spared. His stomach churned at the thought of Taemin being hunted down, however there was nothing he could do, unless hoping for Taemin to be the smart and sly kitten he is, as soon as hell comes down. Unfortunately, hell wasn’t this far away anymore.


	2. The last Time?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guilt and Pleasure for Stark - Taemin probably seeing everyone for the last time without knowing (?)

Back into the building, Stark made his way to Taemin’s room again. The younger agent was still lying in his bed, though he wasn’t sleeping. “After sex cig?” Taemin asked with a smirk. Stark didn’t answer and just made his way down the tiny stair again and seated himself on the sofa. “Did you currently get any information from the boss?” Stark asked, crossing his legs. Taemin sat up and frowned. “No? Is there something I need to know?” Stark sighed and thought, “Oh, well there are many things I’d like to tell you, however I can’t.” And said out loud, “Then be assured that there will come something for you soon.” Taemin raised a curious eyebrow. As Stark thought about the hell, that would hunt Taemin very soon, he said, “I think you should go there again. Talk to this person again.” Before you maybe never be able again to do so, was the continuation in his thoughts. Taemin blinked a little confused and nodded after some time. “If he will be there or I must go every day, hoping to catch him,” The young hacker mumbled to himself.

 

That was exactly what Taemin did. He visited the museum on the next day, however unfortunately V wasn’t there. Nevertheless, Taemin looked at all his photographs again. “Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad to try photography…,” Taemin murmured to himself. He didn’t have any particular hobby, he was working and when he had some free time he read books or played LOLOL. Nothing spectacular. So, the young hacker thought about purchasing a camera, however he discarded the thought shortly after. “I’m not allowed to stray off to far from the agency, so there wouldn’t be much to photograph in the first place,” He thought with a sigh, walking to the museum cafeteria to buy some coffee. After getting an extra strong coffee from the counter, Taemin slumped down on a bench. “Stark is acting weird, something doesn’t feel quite right…,” He whispered to himself sipping at his coffee. After finishing his cup, Taemin didn’t want to go straight back home, but if he stayed away too long someone would come to find him.

 

Taemin visited the museum three days in a row, however unfortunately V wasn’t there once in those days. Well, Taemin was not a quitter, so he decided to go on the fourth day too. Before he could head of to the museum, his computer made the ‘incoming e-mail’ sound. “What now? If I get one fucking more task from another agent, I swear, I’ll go to every single one of them, asking why they are still alive,” Taemin hissed through clenched teeth. He unlocked his mailbox and found an e-mail from his boss, which contained only a date and time for a meeting with a short notice where it would be held. “So, that’s what Stark was talking about?” Taemin asked himself and shrugged, locked his computer and made his way out of his room. “Taemin? Where are you going?” Asked a familiar voice and the redhead turned around. It was one of the HQ-members, which are practically his supervisors. “I just wanted to get some fresh air, uhm if… if that’s alright?” He asked uncertain. His supervisor gave him an obscure smile. “If it’s you, then sure go ahead. You’ve earned some free time, though don’t see this as a natural thing.” The middle-aged man said with a stern look. Taemin bowed his head and answered, “Of course not, thank you.” With that he got off to the museum for real.

 

This time V was there, but unfortunately with Rika. The first person, who noticed him, was also Rika. “Oh, how nice to see you again!” She called out to him. That’s when V turned around and caught Taemin’s eyes with his. Luckily V approached him before Rika. “You really came back,” The older male said with a low voice and smiled. Which lead Taemin to flash a smile back. “I’m really happy that I was lucky to find you today. I came here the past three days, but you weren’t here,” Taemin said sheepishly. “That is really unfortunate. I was here, however not at the same time as you then. Did you already eat?” V asked looking Taemin straight in the eyes. Taemin shook his head. Then Rika barged in their conversation, “Let’s grab something to eat together.” She smiled a bright smile, but Taemin could see again the darkness in her eyes. The young hacker nodded and followed them outside the museum to a restaurant.

 

“Are you still studying?” Rika asked Taemin, while they were waiting for the food. “No, I already graduated…,” Taemin said feeling slightly uncomfortable. “Aren’t you a little young for that?” She asked while tilting her head. “Fuck…,” Is what Taemin thought, searching for something to say. “Well…” Before Taemin could say anything else, V interrupted him, “That’s not important, is it? What did you study?” Taemin blinked confused and sighed, because he felt a little relieved. “Computer and data science,” He muttered, averting his gaze. V rose his eyebrow but didn’t say anything. “Then you’re good with computers? That is nice,” Rika flashed a fake smile again. Taemin sheepishly rubbed his neck. Rika seemed very interested in him and asked another question, “Do you have any hobbies?” Taemin felt like he was in an interrogation. “Nah, not really. If… if I get some free time I usually read books, play games or when there is much free time, I also do jigsaw puzzles,” The crimson-haired young man answered. “Except for the gaming part, that’s what V likes to do too,” Rika answered and giggled. Taemin glanced up to V, who seemed not to be very talkative. Emerald green eyes met mint-colored eyes and Taemin suddenly blushed.

 

Later they got their food, while eating neither of them spoke. As they finished eating, Taemin got up and wanted to pay his meal. “No, you don’t have to. The bill is on me,” V said with his gentle voice, holding back Taemin with a hand on his arm. V realized that he touched the young man again and wanted to retreat his hand, as Taemin spoke, “It’s alright… If it’s you, I’m okay with it.” He blushed again and turned his head away. V gave him a gentle squeeze and then let go of him, to go pay the food. They left the restaurant together and walked towards the museum. Rika suggested they should take a little stroll through the nearby park, to digest the food better.

 

V took this opportunity to take some pictures of the local nature until Rika suggested taking a picture of Taemin. Taemin was startled at the suggestion and stuttered, “I-I don’t think that I’ll be a good motive. I always look awful on pictures…” V looked at Taemin through his viewfinder and had his focus just on the young man with his crimson hair and those emerald green eyes. “Smile for me, will ya?” V said playfully and smiled, which lead Taemin to smile too. Taemin didn’t hear the first camera shutter, because he was mesmerized by V. How passionately he was while taking pictures. “That look on your face is perfect right now,” V exclaimed and took some more pictures in different angles. Taemin looked from V to Rika and then his gaze wandered to the sky.  “This feeling in the pit of my stomach is making me nauseous…,” Taemin thought and his face changed into a scowl. “Hey, are you okay?” V asked him, his hand ghosting over his back. “Am I?” Taemin asked, as he did last time.

 

Taemin was still with V and Rika. Currently they were back in the museum talking about this and that, discussing their opinions on V’s pictures. V also showed the earlier taken pictures to Taemin. Rika was looking over their shoulders. “You’re so beautiful and graceful. You’re not throughout Korean, are you?” Rika asked with no shame, disturbing Taemin’s personal space again. “I’m not sure and there is no one I could asked either,” Taemin answered, his heart stinging as he thought about his mom. Rika made a sympathetic face and asked in a caring voice, “What happened?” Taemin clenched his teeth and frowned. He looked up to V, who listened to the conversation, but didn’t seem to have the courage to intervene. “Doesn’t matter…,” Taemin said and averted his eyes to the ground. “Ah, we’re back! I’m quickly going to the bathroom,” Rika exclaimed and walked ahead of the guys.

 

Taemin took this moment to talk to V, “I think I won’t be able to come here as long as the exhibition is still here. I also think, that I won’t be able to talk to you again, so, I wanted to tell you something.” V rose his gaze to Taemin’s. “You should be wary of your girlfriend. I think she is dangerous, I don’t get good vibes from her. Fuck, I’m so sorry if that’s offending you, but her presence is almost nauseating for me.” V’s obscure expression didn’t change as he said with a low voice, “I’m aware of this, I’m already trying to help her with all I have.” The feelings that Taemin sensed from V, when he said that, weren’t good ones. “You shouldn’t sacrifice yourself for someone, who can’t appreciate what you’re doing. You shouldn’t sacrifice yourself for someone else in the first place, however that is easier said than done, I know that much,” Taemin whispered. “I should go now, thank you for spending time with me and buying me food,” The crimson-haired young man smiled, but his eyes were sad. “I hope we will meet again, Taemin,” V smiled a little sad too. “Don’t get yourself killed, Jihyun,” Taemin flashed a cocky smile, winked and jogged away. V got a heatwave spreading through his body, as the younger man said his real name, unfortunately Taemin was gone so fast.

 

Taemin ran into Stark on his way to his room. “Woah, easy little kitten,” Stark said surprised. “How can someone be so cunning?!” Taemin asked angry. Stark was a little startled. “Wh-what do you mean?” He asked cautious. “The girlfriend of the photographer I mentioned before, she is such a… gaah! I don’t even have words for someone like that. How can you look like an innocent angel and have the soul of an evil being?!” Taemin growled, stomping to his room. Stark sighed relieved, because Taemin wasn’t talking about him and followed the younger one into his room. Taemin pulled his sweater over his head and tossed it onto the sofa, pulling down his pants too. So, he was only in his underwear. “Right, are you attending that meeting in two days also?” Taemin asked, while searching for a fresh pair of undies. “Yes, our whole team will,” Stark answered, biting his lower lip. “You already know more about that, I assume?” Taemin asked curious and approached Stark. “Wanna’ join me?” A teasing smirk curled around his mouth. Stark looked him dead in the eyes. “I do know just a little more. If our little kitten can’t wash up on its own, sure,” The brown-haired male cooed.

 

Surprisingly the shower was just a shower. Of course, they both washed each other, though it didn’t escalate into something else. After they showered for too long, they laid down on Taemin’s bed with just their underwear. Taemin used Stark’s chest as a pillow and hugged him around his waist. “Can I snooze a bit over here?” Taemin asked with a yawn. Stark ruffled through his hair. “Sure, little kitten,” Stark said with a low voice, fondling Taemin’s scalp. Taemin closed his eyes and purred. It didn’t take long and Taemin was asleep, which made Stark chuckle. “I’m so sorry Taemin… I genuinely hope that you’ll survive and never have to cross path with me again. I know I wanted to transfer you to my agency, however I want you to be free and happy. As a secret agent, such a life is impossible,” Stark murmured more to himself, still stroking through Taemin’s crimson hair. “I will miss you so much. It already hurts, just thinking about it. Haha, I’m so pathetic,” The older agent said, shaking his head and feeling his eyes burn with unshed tears.

 

Stark tried to slip out of the bed without waking up Taemin. He succeeded and walked silently over to Taemin’s computer. He clenched his hands into fists and sighed heavily. “I am sorry, so sorry… sorry…,” He mumbled to himself, as he unlocked Taemin’s computer. Stark knew Taemin’s passwords and passcodes, because he observed him and the usual time, when Taemin was changing all his passwords and codes wasn’t there yet. With a heavy heart and a nauseating guilt in his guts, Stark searched for the files of Taemin’s analyzing program, copied it to an USB drive and locked the computer again, as everything was done. Stark turned around, Taemin was still sleeping peacefully, not knowing that he did the biggest mistake in his life by breaking one of the most important rules as a secret agent: trust nobody. “I hope you will survive and live another life, a normal life, not as an agent, then you won’t need this anymore, anyway…,” Stark whispered, clenching his fist around the USB drive. He bit his bottom lip while sneaking out the room.

 

Taemin woke up alone in his bed. Rubbing his eyes, he rose into a sitting position and looked around a little confused. “How long did I sleep?” He thought, searching for his phone to check the time. He almost got a heart attack when he saw the time. It was already past midnight. He scrambled out of his bed, put on a t-shirt and one of his harems pants, making his way up to his computer. He sat down in his chair, unlocking the computer and slowly opening his mailbox. “Please, let there be not so much tasks…,” He pleaded to himself and slumped back in his chair as soon as he saw one e-mail with a ton of attachments.

 

_“Taemin, we need this data analyzed until six in the morning. The other files have to be prepared before the meeting.”_

 

The young hacker wanted to scream and flip over his desk, but he sat absolutely still in his chair, staring at the middle screen. “Taemin, I hate you. Why did you have to be so smart and fast? If you’re capable of many things, you’ll get to do most of the work. Fuck that…,” Taemin grumbled to himself. He then put one part of the data into his analyzing program and looked through the rest by himself.

 

He was highly concentrated on his work and flinched hard, as his phone got off. “What the fuck…,” He swore and took the call. “Yah?” “Taemin, how is the progress?” It was his boss, the big boss, which was also the boss for his supervisors. “Sorry, I overslept somewhat… but most of the data is already analyzed. I’m sending it to you in an hour at the latest,” Taemin said, while typing on his keyboard. “Thank you, don’t forget the other files. They contain the key data for your teams next mission, which will be discussed at the meeting,” The boss said. “Understood,” Taemin replied and they ended the call. “Well fucking nice. Now I am responsible for the fucking key data, goddammit. I should’ve asked for an extra paycheck…,” Taemin talked to himself, concentrating on the information in front of him. “You swear awfully lot these days,” Stark said, while entering the room. Taemin didn’t look at him. “Ya. I’m fucking annoyed,” Taemin hissed. “Oh, and you could’ve woken me up, asshole,” He said with a growl. Stark chuckled and massaged Taemin’s shoulders.

 

“Now you’re being naughty again, little kitten,” Stark whispered into Taemin’s ear, nibbling at its lobe. Taemin slipped away from the touch and snarled, “Don’t have time for this right now.” Stark rose his eyebrows. If Taemin acted pissed like this, he was stressed out, however not because of the ‘workload’, but because of something else bothering him. In this case it was surely the incident with the photographer and his girlfriend. “You know what? They all can go to hell. Our team is just a big joke and I despise the heads of this agency so fucking much. Gosh I’m so angry right now,” Taemin bitched, still working on analyzing the data. Stark couldn’t hold back the smirk that creeped on his face. If Taemin holds a grudge against the agency, then it would be easier for him to break away from it. “Taemin, calm down, okay? Are you sure this is about the agency and not just your anger for that woman?” Stark asked cautious. “ _This_ is only about our all mighty agency,” Taemin clarified. “Don’t let them bother you so much,” The older agent advised, but only got a deathly glare as a response.

 

The analyzing was done before the clock hit three. As Taemin let out a frustrated groan, it was already five in the morning. Stark woke up from it, he did fall asleep on Taemin’s sofa. “I hate everyone. I. just. Fucking. Hate. EVERYONE!” Taemin shouted the end of the sentence and let out a heavy sigh. “Ouch…,” Stark commented and Taemin turned around to look at him. Taemin stared at the half naked man on his sofa and growled. “Get on the bed, now!” He ordered, locking his computer. “I’ll be back,” Taemin said, vanishing into the bathroom to take a quick shower, hoping to calm down his nerves a bit. Meanwhile, Stark laid down on Taemin’s bed. “What did he plan now?” He asked himself, turned on the starry sky projector and studied the ‘stars’ on the ceiling. “Will this be our last time together? The last time this intimate, the last time I can feel something. Your trust, that I betrayed, your fondness…,” Stark thought with a sigh, feeling guilt shifting in his chest.

 

Taemin came out of the bathroom, with just a towel around his waist. He glanced up the ceiling and grinned. “Are you on the romantic side today?” He asked Stark and climbed onto the bed, graceful like a cat. “I like it, it’s soothing,” Stark explained and looked Taemin in his emerald green eyes. His eyes were so gorgeous and sincere. However, he could hide his emotion very well too, Taemin was a master of the ‘poker-face’. The older agent caressed Taemin’s face with his fingertips. “Your presence is too,” He whispered in Taemin’s ear, licking down his jaw and nibbling on his neck. Taemin smiled and felt a slight blush on his cheeks. “What’s up with you? Don’t say such cheesy things,” Taemin chuckled and connected their lips. Taemin buried his face at Stark’s shoulder as their kiss ended. “I have a bad feeling. I don’t know what it is, it’s just… the whole atmosphere feels wrong. Not between us, I mean within the agency and regarding that meeting,” He said with a low voice, drawing circles with his fingertips on Stark’s chest. Stark stroked through Taemin’s hair and kissed him on the cheek. “Yeah, I know what you mean… but let’s not focus on that now,” Stark said and shifted a little, so they laid face to face now.

 

Taemin blushed and averted his gaze. A little confused Stark asked, “What’s up little kitten? It’s not our first time together like this?” Taemin looked back up again and bit his bottom lip. “No, I wanted to ask you… if it would be possible, that… that you…,” The younger agent stuttered and averted his eyes again. Stark frowned and sat up a little, so he could see Taemin better. “You have a request? Well, let’s hear and I decide if I’m able to do so,” Stark said encouraging, stroking over Taemin’s side. “Be overly gentle with me and then break me, please?” Taemin finally said but with a very low voice. Stark tilted his head and looked a little confused. “What’s the matter little kitten?” He asked curious. Taemin glanced up in Stark’s eyes. “If it’s okay for you, then just do it, okay?” The redhead said and looked like a lost kitten. Stark embraced him and gave him a kiss on his head. “Alright, I do it for you,” He said and kissed Taemin softly on his lips.

 

Stark kissed Taemin’s face and lips softly over and over, simultaneously stroking his fingertips over Taemin’s pale body, tracing the shapes of his tattoos. “You feel so good, Taemin,” He whispered in his ear, kissing Taemin’s temple. Stark’s fingers ghosted over Taemin’s entire body, making him shudder with arousal. Taemin just sighed relaxed and closed his eyes. Stark observed every inch of Taemin’s body, first with his eyes, then with his hands. He slowly removed the towel from Taemin’s hips and stroked softly over his thighs. “That tickles…,” Taemin laughed and looked at Stark with a smile, which let his eyes shine too. That flustered Stark a bit, he never saw such raw emotion from Taemin towards himself. “You’re so soft, I’m a little jealous,” The brown-haired man said, sliding his hand to the small of Taemin’s back, to pull him closer. “You’re soft too, no need to be jealous,” The redhead said, while he began to undress Stark.

 

After a long time just stroking each other over their bodies and kissing softly, Stark got on his knees, placing them on each side of Taemin’s body. Stark still stroked over Taemin’s body with his fingers, however, he began to place kisses all over his neck and chest too. Taemin wasn’t completely hard yet, but not completely soft either. As Stark continued to place kisses and tickly licks all over his chest, caressing his nipples with most attention, Taemin’s erection grew harder every minute. “You’re delicious and soft, so beautifully pale. Your body is perfect little kitten,” Stark said, while caressing Taemin, he whispered all kinds of compliments and sweet nothings. “Heh, I didn’t know you were capable of being that cheesy Stark,” Taemin giggled, combing his fingers through Starks hair. Stark just gazed up to Taemin, flashing him a warm smile. Stark felt terrible, thinking about what was going to happen soon, so he would do anything what Taemin ask from him right now. Being gentle and soft was not a challenge at all. If this were another life, where they weren’t secret agents and could live freely, he would have loved Taemin with all his might. Well, they didn’t live such life’s, that’s why the only fondness they can give each other is bodily pleasure.

 

As some more time has passed with just petting each other, Stark moved down on Taemin and brushed kisses over his shaft. Fondling his testicles, licking over his shaft and pressing a kiss on the cock head. Taemin moaned faintly, arching his back a little. Stark continued what he was doing and used one hand to stroke over the insides of Taemin’s thigh and back up to his waist and groin. The older agent began to stroke Taemin’s cock with his hand, simultaneously he kissed around his belly button. “S-Stark, please…,” Taemin whined and looked pleadingly at Stark. The urge to tease him was tickling inside of Stark, but he refrained from doing so, because he promised to be gentle. “You’re lucky today, that I won’t ask you what you meant exactly,” He said with a smirk and let Taemin’s cock slide into his mouth. “Oh god…!” Taemin moaned and clawed the sheets. Stark pressed his tongue against Taemin’s shaft and sucked softly. He could taste Taemin’s pre-cum and felt his pulse. Taemin bucked up his hips, which shoved his cock deeper into Stark’s throat, what made him cough. “I’m sorry…,” Taemin breathed and sat up a little to check if Stark was alright.

 

Stark let go of Taemin’s cock and looked him dead in the eye. “You are damn lucky, that I agreed on being the soft guy for now,” Stark said provocative. “But, that doesn’t mean I can’t punish you,” He continued and had a smug grin on his face. Stark lowered his head down on Taemin’s cock again. Bobbing his head passionately and sucking it a little harder than before. “Fuck… Stark…,” Taemin gasped and threw his head back. As soon as Stark felt, that Taemin wanted to move his hips again, he held him down gently and continued to move his head up and down. Taemin’s breath got unstable and his body shivered a little, which was a sign that he was close to coming. “St-stark, I-I’m co… Fuck!”, Taemin almost yelled, as his cockhead vanished into the back of Stark’s throat. The sensation he felt, made him come so hard, spurting his cum directly down Stark’s throat. Stark concentrated on his breath and managed to swallow all of Taemin’s semen, licking his head clean. “You don’t taste too bad,” Stark commented and chuckled.

 

Taemin fell into his pillows, panting. Stark crawled up again and laid himself beside Taemin, kissing him on the corner of his mouth. Taemin’s hand snuck up to Stark’s shaft, stroking it with light touches. “I want you, deep inside of me…,” Taemin seductively whispered into Stark’s ear. Which made Stark’s cock twitch. “Little kitten wants it still gentle?” Stark asked curious. Taemin nodded with a blush on his cheeks. “Alright,” Stark breathed and got down again, kissing Taemin’s thighs and then slipping his tongue between his soft cheeks. Gently spreading his smooth cheeks to get better access. Stark let his tongue lap over Taemin’s entrance, making circles and pushing against it. He sincerely licked over his pink entrance over and over, until Taemin opened a bit, then he let his tongue slide in. Taemin made the best sounds, while being rimmed. Stark slightly brushed his fingertips over Taemin’s half erect cock. His free hand slipping under the pillow, grabbing the warming lube. Shortly after Stark coated his fingers with the lube and let some drip directly on Taemin’s hole too.

 

Carefully he pushed one finger into Taemin’s tight heat and started twisting it while thrusting in and out. Stark kissed Taemin’s thighs and bend his finger from time to time, to brush over Taemin’s sweet-spot. He also started to kiss over Taemin’s cock again, which was back to being rock hard. “Stark…,” Taemin moaned quietly. The older male added a second finger, to stretch Taemin a little more, doing the same as before and scissoring them a bit too. His other hand was still caressing Taemin’s beautiful body, his lips brushing over the sensitive skin of Taemin’s cock and his fingers were sliding in and out very slowly. Stark wanted Taemin to feel everything, if it was the last time they could be like this together, then he had to make sure, that Taemin wouldn’t forget him so easily. Stark added a third finger, spreading Taemin even wider and let him feel even more. “Are you okay, little kitten?” Stark asked and looked up to Taemin, who had his eyes squeezed close and moaned shamelessly. With lust darkened eyes, the redhead looked down to Stark. “I want you, Stark,” He said in a raspy voice, slightly arching his back.

 

Stark thrusted his fingers some more times in and out of Taemin, kissing and licking the skin next to his crotch. Then Stark released his fingers fairly slowly and looked Taemin straight in his eyes. The older agents cock was pretty hard, just from pleasuring Taemin and hearing him moan. Stark kissed Taemin softly on his lips, licking at the bottom one, which escalated into a burning tongue kiss, leaving them both breathless. Taemin caressed Stark’s naked body until he arrived at his crotch, where he slowly took the shaft in his hand, forming a loose fist and pumping his hand up and down. “I want to feel your big dick inside of me…,” Taemin moaned hoarsely. Stark slightly shook his head and chuckled. “You’re acting shy, but still maintain your bold mouth,” He said, kissing Taemin again. Stark positioned himself between Taemin’s legs, coating his cock with the lube and spreading some on Taemin’s pink entrance again.

 

Stark rubbed his tip teasingly at Taemin’s hole and looked down into his eyes. “Close your eyes little kitten and just focus on the feeling,” Stark whispered. As soon as Taemin closed his eyes, he leaned down to kiss his neck and slowly entering the pleasurable heat. Stark’s movements were extremely slow, that he felt every contraction of Taemin’s ring muscle around his cock. He moved his hips in a very slow and steady pace, caressing Taemin’s sides with his fingertips. Taemin tried to keep his eyes closed and moaned quietly. The younger agent savored Stark’s faint touches and felt every little vein of his cock, while he was sliding in and out of him so slowly. Taemin wanted more, much more, but he also wanted to feel Stark as much as possible. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but his ‘sixth sense’ let the alarms inside of his head shrill. “Ju-just a little faster Stark…,” Taemin breathed out and bucked up his hips towards Stark’s movements. Stark stroked Taemin’s left cheek with the back of his hand, whispering, “Sure, little kitten, everything you want.” With this he accelerated his pace.

 

Simultaneously Stark bent down to nib at Taemin’s prominent collar bones, letting his tongue glide and his teeth graze over them. Then he traced the lines of Taemin’s tattoos with his fingertips, down to Taemin’s ribs, where he was slightly ticklish and squirmed at the touch. Stark chuckled and kissed the beautiful man under him passionately, as he quickened his pace once more, just a little bit. Which lead to Taemin moaning a little louder as well. Stark lifted his posture and laid his hands on Taemin’s hips, holding him in a gentle grip, while slowly moving in and out of his tight heat. “You feel so incredible…,” Stark moaned lustful. The redhead lifted his arms above his head and gripped the headboard of his bed, while arching his back, gasping and moaning. “Fuck…, this pace is torture,” Taemin whined and opened his eyes slowly to look at Stark. His brown eyes looked right back into Taemin’s emerald green eyes. “You wanted to be treated gently, so I am gentle,” Stark said with a grin on his face, still thrusting slowly.

 

Taemin laid his hands onto Stark’s shoulders and lifted himself up. He reversed their positions, so that he now sat on top of Stark. Taemin let Stark’s cock slide back in and managed the pace himself now by going up and down. “Stark, your cock is brilliant. I love him…,” Taemin moaned from deep within his throat. Stark had a smug smile on his face and placed his hands again on Taemin’s hips, now just gripping slightly harder than before. Taemin put his hands onto Stark’s chest to steady himself and move his hips faster and harder onto his cock. They both moved their hips in complementary ways, so that each of them got the most feeling and pleasure. They moaned in unison, Stark had a firm grip on Taemin’s hips, which was almost bruising and Taemin threw back his head, moaning shamelessly. Stark couldn’t comprehend where his body began and where it ended, because he merged with Taemin, they both were one in this very moment, there were so much emotions and feelings flowing through them.

 

Stark tried to hold back the peak of his pleasure, which boiled up more and more every thrust, he wanted to savor this feeling of unison a little longer. “Oh, for fu…, I’m so close, just from your amazing cock rubbing my insides…,” Taemin breathed out with a hoarsely voice. “Me too, you feel so good Taemin,” Stark moaned back. The younger male bent down and whispered into Stark’s ear, “Let us come together,” Taemin lifted his upper body a little and Stark laid his fingers around Taemin’s cock, to stroke him, while still thrusting into him. He matched the rhythm of his strokes with his thrusts, slightly speeding up the pace once more. Shortly after, both screamed out in pleasure, stroking and riding through their orgasms. Taemin could feel Stark’s hot fluid coating his insides, as his own cum shot out of his cock in big strands, onto Stark’s hand and belly. Taemin tried to calm down his breath and let himself fell down next to Stark, who promptly laid an arm around the younger agent.

 

“You always know where to touch and thrust to make my mind go blank…,” Taemin whispered, placing his head onto Stark’s chest, which was damp from sweat. Stark fondled Taemin’s scalp and combed through his messy hair. “I want you to feel good and to acquire that, I need to know where the right places are to touch you and make you feel so good,” Stark answered, giving Taemin a kiss on his forehead. “Gosh Stark, you’re so freaking cheesy today. I’m gonna puke,” Taemin said chuckling. Stark just smiled, closed his eyes, pulled Taemin deeper into his arms and kissed him passionately. Taemin snuggled closer and kissed Stark’s cheek. “We should take a shower and I should sleep a little,” Taemin said with a sigh. Stark hugged Taemin tightly and didn’t answer. He didn’t want to let go of Taemin right now. He felt like, if he let go of him now, he will be gone forever. “Sure, my little kitten…,” The older agent whispered eventually and they both got up. The redhead took his towel from before and a new pair of underwear with him.

 

“I would have never guessed that you would be able to make vanilla sex,” Taemin chuckled while turning on the water in the shower. Stark crossed his arms and rose an eyebrow. “Well, I am able to do so, as you saw, but you’re not the one who like it that much,” Stark replied and eyed Taemin. The younger agent blushed slightly. “Right, I am more on the rough side of life. But once in a while, with the right person, the softer way isn’t too bad,” The crimson-haired young man said smiling. Stark got into the shower with Taemin and massaged his shoulders. “You should take a break every now and then, little kitten,” Stark whispered in Taemin’s ear, pressing a kiss behind it. Taemin leaned back against Stark, who embraced him around his waist. “You know Stark, you’re acting strange. Is it because you know more about the upcoming mission?” Taemin asked, placing his hands onto Stark’s arms. The brown-haired man sighed and laid his chin on Taemin’s right shoulder. “Part of…, but there’s something else,” Stark began and stopped for a moment, not sure if he should continue. The redhead looked back to see Stark’s face, encouraging him to continue. “You remember your request from a month ago? Regarding just you and me…,” Stark whispered with a slightly trembling voice.

 

That’s when Taemin removed himself out of Stark’s arms to stand face to face. “Well, if you mean _that_ request, then sure I remember,” Taemin said with a curious raised eyebrow. Taemin would have never thought to ever see Stark blush, but now there he was standing under the warm water of the shower and slightly blushing. “I decided,” Stark murmured. Taemin’s jaw dropped and his eyebrows rose. “Uhm… okay, okay… which answer you decided on?” Taemin stuttered flustered. Stark, still blushing, looked Taemin dead in the eyes and said, “Yes, I decided on yes. I want to feel you in another way too.” Taemin clasped his hand over his mouth and let out a surprised shriek. A month ago, Taemin had asked Stark if he would be okay with switching their roles in bed. Which means Taemin wanted to top Stark, the latter wasn’t so sure about that. Reason behind that was, Stark did bottom once with another person and it felt horrible for him, there was not a single spark of pleasure. Well, Taemin wasn’t that other bastard and Stark was sure that they would never see each other with the same eyes after the upcoming mission, if they ever meet again that is. So, he decided to place his trust, regarding of switching their roles, into Taemin.

 

“Y-you want to… gosh. I don’t even know what to say. If you’re sure about that decision, I promise to make you feel good. As good as you always make me feel,” Taemin said with a promising smile. Stark took a deep breath and just nodded. With a gentle smile, Taemin made sure they both washed up thorough and took Stark back into his bed. Emerald green irises locked with almond brown ones. Stark sat with his back against the headboard of the bed and Taemin in his lap, kissing him softly. “Don’t think too much, just feel,” Taemin whispered into Stark’s ear and kissed down his jaw to his neck. Licking and nibbling on the sensitive skin there. Stark did what Taemin said, he shoved all of his thoughts into the back of his head and just focused on Taemin’s soft touches, his tickling kisses and gentle bites. The younger male extended his caresses down Stark’s chest, licking and sucking on one nipple, teasing the other one between his fingers. The older agent gasped quietly, observing every movement of Taemin on his body.

 

Taemin caressed Stark’s entire upper body with his mouth, tongue and hands, sometimes his teeth too. After a while, he slightly pulled on Stark’s hips, telling him to slide down a bit. Which lead to Stark half lying and half sitting. The redhead continued his journey on Stark’s body, down to his crotch area. Stroking and kissing the insides of Stark’s thighs, he then took a smaller pillow, placing it at the small of Stark’s back to lift his hips a little. Taemin looked into Stark’s eyes asking for approval to move on. “I’m all yours now, I trust you,” Stark said with a low voice. Even if he said that, he was a little nervous. Taemin gently stroked his cheek with his fingertips. “I won’t force you, if you feel uncomfortable or if I hurt you, just tell me and I stop, okay?” The younger one said, flashing a reassuring smile. Stark nodded as an answer. Taemin grabbed his trusted warming lube and laid it beside them. He then got down again and firstly tracing the shape of Stark’s cock with his fingers, then replacing his fingers with his tongue. “You’re free to grab my hair, if you don’t know what to do with your hands,” Taemin smirked, then taking Stark’s cock into his mouth.

 

Stark’s hands were trembling in anticipation and he didn’t want to dominate Taemin right now, so he clawed the sheets. Taemin was working on Starks cock, bobbing his head up and down, sucking in varying intensities, pushing his tongue against the back of his cock and lastly taking him in completely, down his throat. The younger agent loved the shape of Stark’s cock, he was perfect and always felt so good, but now he was going to find out how good Stark’s insides would feel. Therefore, Taemin put a lot of lube on his fingers and spreading it on Stark’s entrance, slightly massaging it on the outside, still sucking his cock to distract him. Nonetheless, he could feel Stark tensing up. Taemin let Stark’s shaft slide out his mouth to whisper him some encouraging words. “As I said, if something’s uncomfortable for you, just tell me.” Taemin looked up to Stark, who’s eyes were half-lid and he was slightly panting. “N-no, everything is f-fine…,” Stark breathed out, laying back to relax a little.

 

Taemin had a little grin on his face and gently stroked over Stark’s hole with his slippery fingers. He started to suck on Stark’s cock again, while his one hand was still loosening Stark’s hole and the other was stroking his belly. Stark relaxed more and more, concentrating on Taemin’s touches, closing his eyes. Taemin was so gentle and persistent, not rushing anything. As Taemin could feel that Stark had loosened up a lot more than before, he dared to let one finger enter Stark. There wasn’t much resistance and Stark let out a quiet moan. Taemin waited a little, letting Stark adjust to the intrusion, then slightly moving his finger in and out. “Is everything alright?” Taemin asked, Stark didn’t look at him, but said, “Y-yes, it feels funny, but it doesn’t hurt…” Taemin felt relived and continued to slowly move his finger, simultaneously licking over Stark’s shaft and placing kisses around his crotch area.

 

Stark closed his eyes again and felt his arousal building up with every move and touch of Taemin. The younger one squeezed some more lube on his fingers and tried a second finger, which elicited a moan from Stark’s throat. Taemin slowly moved both fingers, scissoring them and bending inside of Stark. At one-point Stark tensed and Taemin stopped his movements. “N-no it’s okay, really. If it’s too much I’ll tell you…,” The older agent breathed out and looked Taemin directly in his concerned eyes. “Please…,” Stark whined, Taemin smiled reassuring and continued. As he experimented with the angles, he finally found what he was looking for – Stark’s sweet-spot. As soon as Taemin brushed his fingers over said spot, Stark let out a surprised gasp and arched his back. Taemin grinned to himself, took Stark’s shaft back into his mouth and his fingers now thrusting in a steady pace in and out of him, brushing over Stark’s prostate every now and then.

 

Stark tightened his grip on the sheets and tried to contain his moans but failed when Taemin started to thrust his fingers and sucking his cock again in a steady pace. It just felt too damn good. He arched his back and let out a loud moan. “God, Taemin…,” He gasped and then moaned again. Suddenly he felt his groins tensing, he was so close. “Taemin… I’m gonna…,” Stark began but Taemin interrupted him, “Just do it.” Said and done, Stark focused even more on this phenomenal feeling and came hard, harder than ever before. “Fuck…!” He clenched his jaws and felt every spurt of cum so intensely. Taemin licked the white fluid from Stark’s belly and sucked his cock clean. Still slowly moving his fingers inside of Stark, who was panting, brushing a hand through his brown hair. “It’s nice coming, while having the prostate massaged, huh?” Taemin asked cheeky. “Fuck you,” Stark answered and Taemin smirked. “Hmm, but I’m about to fuck you, so no time to fuck me,” He answered with a laugh.

 

“You and you’re big mouth!” Stark exclaimed indignant. Taemin just chuckled, entering Stark with a third finger. “Oh god…,” The older male moaned then, letting his head fall back on the pillows again. “You’re a very good boy,” Taemin said teasingly. His own cock was throbbing with arousal, just from hearing Stark moan and because Taemin knew how well it felt, when Stark was doing it to him. “Do you think, you are ready?” Taemin lifted his posture to investigate Stark’s eyes. Stark looked back to him, with pleasure darkened eyes. “Yes, I want to finally feel you Taemin,” He breathed out and blushed again. Taemin smiled, leaning down to kiss Stark. He let his fingers slide out of Stark, which lead to him whimpering. While Taemin was preparing his cock and Stark’s hole with a new layer of lube, he enticed him into a deep tongue kiss. Averting Stark’s attention to the kiss, away from what is going to happen down there.

 

Taemin let his tongue dance with Stark’s, placing the tip of his cock at Stark’s entrance, slowly pushing. As the glans entered Stark’s tight heat, Taemin let out a moan into the kiss. Stark slung his arms around Taemin. Slowly Taemin shoved his length into Stark, waiting for Stark to adjust to him. Stark held his breathe and breathed out heavily as Taemin was completely inside him and waited for him. Stark felt so full, it didn’t hurt but it felt strange and oddly good. “Everything alright?” Taemin asked again with a slight concern in his voice. Stark closed his eyes, feeling a sting in his chest. Taemin was too fucking nice for him, he didn’t deserve someone as caring as Taemin. “Yes, I’m fine…,” Stark answered after a moment and looked Taemin dead in the eye. Taemin’s glance was so warm and full of fondness, that Stark’s chest stung again. Stark moved one hand into Taemin’s nape, pulling him down into a kiss. At the same time, Taemin began to move his hips slightly. He savored the feeling of Stark’s tightness and warmth, he felt so good around Taemin’s cock.

 

“It’s a fucking eternity since the last time I was a top, but fuck you feel just amazing,” Taemin moaned into Stark’s ear. “The last time someone did this to me, it felt terrible. But not with you… It doesn’t hurt, I feel so full and it’s a little strange, however, it feels good too,” Stark said, encouraging Taemin to move in a slightly faster pace. After some time, Stark adjusted just fine to Taemin and the latter was now thrusting into Stark with a steady rhythm, placing kisses and gentle bites on his neck. Stark moaned full of pleasure, clawing his nails into Taemin’s back, leaving scratch marks all over. Taemin revenged himself by leaving bite marks and hickeys on Stark’s lower neck and collarbones. The younger one sat up and placed his hands on either thigh, lifting them a bit, to change the angle he was thrusting into Stark, getting better access to his sweet-spot, which he hit from time to time. Stark throwing back his head, moaning loudly when he felt Taemin’s cock brush against his prostate.

 

Stark had so many negative thoughts in his mind, however they were literally fucked away by Taemin. The younger agent let him feel so otherworldly good, that Stark’s thoughts didn’t stand a chance in this moment. He just felt this amazing pleasure, didn’t want to think about any other thing right now. “T-Taemin…,” Stark gasped looking up into burning emeralds. Taemin slowed his pace, tilting his head. “Would you, do me from behind? Being a little rough?” Stark asked, and the crimson-haired young man rose one eyebrow, stilling his movements. “Are you sure about that?” Taemin asked curious. Stark sat up and nodded strongly. “Yes, yes, I am sure,” He said as another assurance. Taemin smirked and said in a demanding voice, “Well, then turn around.” Stark gulped and slowly got on his hands and knees. “Rough you said?” Taemin asked curious again. “Yes, please,” Stark breathed out. “You know what to do then,” Taemin said, leaning down and playfully provocative whispering into Stark’s ear, “Head down, ass up~” Immediately Stark’s cheeks began to burn with embarrassment, and he gulped.

 

Taemin tapped his fingertips up Stark’s spine, curling his fingers around his nape, pushing him down. “Good boy~” Taemin praised Stark and ruffled through his hair. He then slid his hands over Stark’s back to his cheeks, giving him a gentle slap. Stark whimpered and clawed his fingers into the pillows underneath him. He felt how Taemin separated his cheeks and let his tongue slip over his ring muscle, which felt incredible good. Taemin kneaded Stark’s cheeks, while he licked over his entrance. Stark buried his face into the pillow, muffling his moans. During this, Taemin stroked Stark’s erection slowly. After some time, he placed his hands onto Stark’s hips. “Well, you said you wanted it a little rougher, yeah?” Taemin asked rhetorical, squeezing some lube on his own cock and reentering Stark with one thrust, tightening the grip on his hips. A grin curled around Taemin’s mouth as he leaned down. “You know the word, right? Just say ‘release’ and I stop right away,” Taemin whispered and Stark nodded.

 

Taemin was a little nervous. He could be a jerk sometimes; however, he wasn’t very experienced at dominating someone like this. Which was the reason he was feeling a little uncertain. Nonetheless, he tried, mimicking Stark a little. After entering Stark this suddenly, he waited for him to adjust a little better and began thrusting in a fast pace. Leaving one hand gripped at Stark’s hip and the other one moving up Stark’s back and into his hair, were Taemin made a fist. Pulling Stark up a little bit, trying to achieve a good angle for him to brush over Stark’s sweet-spot, while thrusting into him. Stark moaned loudly, clenching his hands around the pillow underneath and arching his back. The tickling and burning pleasure he felt inside his body was mind-blowing. If he had a coherent thought left in his mind, then it would be gone by now. The only things he was able to focus on were Taemin’s thrusts and touches, the slight sting on his scalp because of the hair pulling. It didn’t hurt, even if there was pain somewhere, Stark didn’t suffer from it, it was pleasurable.

 

Stark felt every thrust of Taemin’s thick length inside of him. He fumed at himself, for not deciding earlier to do this, then he could have felt like this more often. Now it was presumably the last time he would ever feel this good, while being topped. “Gosh Taemin, you’re so good…,” He exclaimed, moaning loudly. Stark felt Taemin’s lips between his shoulders, his teeth at his nape and his fingers tugging on his hair. Goosebumps ran over his body, he felt the peak of his pleasure creeping to the surface. “Come for me,” Taemin whispered in his ear, he did feel Stark tensing and trembling, which told him he was close. Stark gasped at the sensation of the breathy whisper in his ear. Taemin pulled him up a little more, thrusting hard and fast into him, almost hitting his sweet-spot with every thrust. The hand on his hip made its way to his cock, curling around it and stroking it simultaneously with the thrusts. Taemin caressed Stark’s nape with his lips, tongue and teeth.

 

“Come for me Stark…,” He whispered moaning. “I’m close too,” Taemin moaned directly into Stark’s ear. After some more thrusts and strokes, Stark came hard again, this time more screaming then moaning. His insides contracted hard in the same rhythm as his cum were pumped out. The contractions of his muscles threw Taemin over his edge too, who grunted in pleasure as he spurted his cum inside of Stark. “Fuck…,” Taemin hissed as he removed himself from Stark, letting himself fall on the bed, tugging Stark with him. Stark trembled, his entire body felt overstimulated, however he never had felt this good. The older agent turned around in Taemin’s embrace to face him. Taemin investigated Stark’s light-brown eyes and kissed him tenderly. “Are you okay?” Taemin asked with a low voice. Stark still tried to comprehend this incredible experience and just nodded. Stark laid his forehead against Taemin’s shoulder. “That was better than I would have ever imagined after my first time,” Stark whispered, savoring Taemin’s warm presence. They both felt asleep arm in arm with each other.

 

Stark woke up shortly after and tried to unravel himself from Taemin’s limbs without waking the other up. As he looked down on the sleeping redhead, his chest stung, and his heart painfully tightened. Without his awareness a sob escaped him, and Stark clasped a hand over his mouth. He felt the burning in his chest and in his eyes. In the past he was able to suppress his urge to cry and the tears with it, but right now his guilt and other painful emotions washed over him like a tsunami and his tears just fell down his cheeks. “What did you do to me? And what did I do to you?” He asked silently. Stark was sure that it was never Taemin’s intention to made Stark fall for him, but what can one do? When there’s no one else, who understands you and accepts you as you are.

 

Stark frowned and thought to himself, that he should have never gotten this close to Taemin. What was going to happen, will highly likely destroy a part of them both. It will especially destroy Taemin’s trust in Stark, the trust he worked for so hard. “Well, I don’t know if you will know, that I was the cause, right after what will happen, but as soon as you know, you will hate me for sure,” Stark whispered to himself, his eyes still on Taemin. The younger man did have a frown on his sleeping face as well, which concerned Stark, because that means he did fall asleep with bad thoughts. That’s one thing he learned about the younger agent, while they were together. Every time Taemin had something on his mind and fell asleep with those thoughts, he would have a straining expression while sleeping. Stark caressed Taemin’s head, brushing his fingers through the crimson hair, letting his fingertips softly stroke over his facial features. “You’re so beautiful inside and out, I hope you’ll find your happiness out there,” Stark said with a low voice. Placing a kiss on Taemin’s forehead. Then he got up, searched for his clothes and walked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, I am sorry if my English isn't the best, however, I hope you had fun reading and maybe you are interested in reading the next chapter too~


	3. Run&Hide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mission failed and Taemin had to run.

The day of the meeting came faster than expected, Taemin did analyze and collect all the key data for the meeting in time, which was now presented by their boss. All team members were here, except for Stark, who was still missing. “Stark, will be here any minute. He will be the leader of this mission,” The boss informed the other team members. Taemin was looking at the door. After their last time together, Stark didn’t visit Taemin often and was a little cold and distant. The younger agent wanted to talk to Stark, however he never got the chance. So, he was confused and a little nervous. Then someone knocked at the door and came in shortly after. It was Stark, his expression was strained, and he wore his black-Leo-printed coat over his shoulders. “I apologize for the delay,” The older agent said and stood beside the boss. The boss and Stark explained the mission to the other team members. They would infiltrate a little branch of another agency, because they stole data from one of their clients. They were to snatch the data back and delete all the information at the branch of the other agency.

 

Of course, Taemin would be handling the infiltration of their servers, finding and deactivating any kind of alarm systems and security cameras. Unlocking computer systems, so the other agents would have instant access to them. Taemin sat in his room on his sofa, thinking about what he should take with him. The branch was five to six hours travel time away from here. “You should take everything that’s dear to you,” Someone said and Taemin flinched. It was Stark. “Can you please not scare me like this?” Taemin hissed. “And what do you mean everything dear to me?” He asked right after. Stark wore an expressionless face, so Taemin couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “I am not sure, if everything will be done without any harm. I am just saying, if something happens and we were not able to return, it would be better to have things with you, which are important to you,” Stark said not looking Taemin in the eyes. This statement made Taemin feel uneasy. Did Stark know something more than the rest, again?

 

Nonetheless, Taemin did pack everything he thought of as important. He then was called by the boss to discuss some things about the mission. Stark used this absence to pack another luggage with all of Taemin’s clothes and other belongings, which could be transported in a backpack. The brown-haired male sighed, while packing Taemin’s stuff. “I’m so sorry. It hurt so much to ignore you the last few days. I’m just a coward,” Stark mumbled to himself. He took the backpack and one travel bag, all full of just Taemin’s belongings and left the room. He already made a plan, for when they infiltrated the branch of his genuine agency. Yes, the branch they were going to infiltrate was more or less a fake branch from Stark’s real agency, which existed just to lure the enemy and destroying them.

 

That was Stark’s task, becoming a member of the enemy agency, working there to collect data and then luring them into a trap, getting more data from them, destroying one of their best infiltrating teams and Stark coming back to his real workplace. Stark will send Taemin some encoded texts with hints, where he could find his stuff and that he should run away as far as he could. He already provided a new identity for Taemin too. That was the least he could do for him, after betraying him. Of course, he didn’t leave any traces while obtaining the documents and placing the identity into the registers. He also ordered a copy of Taemin’s work phone, which isn’t connected to any network of an agency, so he is able to use that without being traced. The work phone is a special phone, which can be used for hacking and infiltrating systems too. Luckily Taemin’s notebook is one made by Taemin himself, so it’s not traceable. He made one for Stark too, which Stark will take back to his agency, but with heavy guilt in his guts, as well for Taemin’s analyzing program.

 

The day for them to travel to their destination came in a blink of time. Taemin insisted that Stark and him should sit together. Sure, Stark wanted to be with Taemin, however he couldn’t bear with his presence, with his knowledge of what was going to happen. “Everything will be alright, we’re the best after all,” Taemin said with a reassuring smile and Stark’s stomach churned and there was the all too familiar stinging in his chest. Taemin laid his head on Stark’s shoulder and intertwined their fingers. “I missed you these days. I know it’s wrong, I’m sorry,” Taemin said quietly, squeezing Stark’s hand slightly. Stark got dizzy and he heard his blood in his ears. He never ever felt this horrible before. It was worse than anything he had felt in his life. Even as he shot another person for the first time, it wasn’t as devastating as what he felt now. That’s what deep feelings for another person does to you, when you are a secret agent and you must betray and destroy other people. That’s why the first rule of every agent is to keep distance from other people. Both Stark and Taemin had failed this rule.

 

Taemin could feel that something was wrong with Stark. He sensed that something was going on, but he couldn’t lay a finger on it and Stark didn’t seem like he would talk about it. Taemin looked at their intertwined hands and sighed with a heavy heart. “You know Stark, normally you’re supposed to love your life, being grateful to live and such… but whatever, there is nothing worth living for in my life. Well, the only thing, which made me stay alive, was first you and second my curiosity for this one peculiar photographer,” Taemin began to speak. “However, I will never be able to see this photographer again and our relationship, well we can’t have a real relationship in the first place but assumed the case we would have a serious relationship, it would be predetermined to fail and destroy us,” He said sighing again. Stark thought he had to suffocate, with every word Taemin said, his lungs seemed to not want to take any oxygen in. “What are you trying to say?” Stark asked raspy.

 

“I think you know what I wanted to say,” Taemin whispered, smiling sadly. “You wouldn’t be too upset, if you were going to die…,” Stark said with a scowl on his face. Taemin hummed confirming. “Ya, that’s it. The only person, who likes me because of who I am, is you. Every other person in my life just ‘likes’ me because of my skills. Sometimes I have the assumption, that I wasn’t born from two people loving each other, but being a result from an experiment or something like that,” Taemin said brushing his free hand through his hair. Stark averted his eyes, he couldn’t look Taemin in the eyes. Sure, it’s true that he liked Taemin as he was and not for his skills, but nonetheless, he was going to betray him for his own selfish reasons. And Taemin really was some sort of an experiment, Stark obtained that information, while skimming through some of the documents he took from the agency. He didn’t know if Taemin’s mom loved him as her son and there’s no chance in getting that information. Anyways, it still hurt Stark to hear Taemin say such things.

 

Stark was responsible for giving tasks to the team members. He gave Taemin the task, to break into one of the computers. The only thing he will find there is a message from Stark, which contains instructions to find the new phone. The phone would contain more messages and information, helping Taemin escape. Meanwhile Stark will transfer the agency data onto a server from his real agency, he will try to transfer as much data as possible, because the agency will recognize that something is wrong and then hunt them all down. Stark hoped that Taemin would be fast enough, while hacking into the computer. Before Stark was transferring the data, he placed Taemin’s belongings at the planned place. “I wanted to tell you, what my feelings for you are, but I didn’t have the courage to do so. I’m still a big coward,” Stark whispered to himself, while he started the data transfer.

 

Taemin sat in a corner outside of the building decoding the system Stark assigned him, which made him frown after a while. “What the hell?” Taemin thought. “That’s my coding,” He said confused. Stark was a secret agent, he knew some programming languages, however that was not his biggest strength, so he used some of Taemin’s pattern to encode his message, because Taemin’s codes were hard to decode by others, in case some other person hacked into the system. As soon as Taemin noticed that this was his coding style, it was child’s play to decode everything. What he got was even more confusing as the fact, that someone used his codes. There was a folder with a document in it, which said:

 

_If you got this far, please run. You will find more information near the wooden shack next to the building._

 

Taemin stared two whole minutes just at those two sentences. He couldn’t really comprehend what was going on. Should he follow these instructions? Taemin looked around confused, then he closed his notebook with a sigh, tucked it back into the bag, which he shouldered and went looking for the shack. Taemin didn’t have to go far, because the wooden shack was right behind the corner he sat before. He observed his surroundings and made his way to the shack and got inside. There he found just a single table with a box on it. Next to the box laid a note. “Inside the box you will find a phone and some documents, the phone code is I9L12O15V22E5Y25O15U21. The messages on the phone will tell you the rest.” Taemin read and squinted at the phone code, because it definitely said something. He then opened the box, there was a brand-new smartphone, which he took out to reveal the mentioned documents. The young hacker was genuinely shocked at what he saw.

 

“What the fuck?” He exclaimed while rummaging through the box. “That’s just fucked up, what the hell… a new ID card, driver’s license, health insurance…” Taemin mumbled, while looking at the documents. “Kyoung-soo Min, who the hell thought that would be a good name?” Taemin frowned, switching on the phone. Typing in the code and was greeted by a folder with more messages, as promised on the note. Taemin had to sit down for a moment, because of the lack of seats, he sat down on the floor. He stared at the messages, reading them again and again. He understood what he read, but he couldn’t comprehend the why. And the only person he could think of, while reading the messages was Stark. That’s why his fingers dialed his number automatically. Of course, he didn’t take the call. Taemin clenched his jaws, taking the new phone and the documents, then following the coordinates on the phone. What he found were three bags with his stuff. All his clothes, his favorite books and other stuff. The only person, who could go in his room, except himself, was Stark. “Stark what the fuck is going on?” Taemin breathed out and just a couple minutes later he got a warning message on his old phone:

 

_There’s an emergency, everyone please retreat to the base._

 

Stark read this message too and cursed. Then he saw a missed call from Taemin. With shaking hands, he called back. Luckily Taemin took the call. “Stark?! What the hell, just... what is going on?” Stark assumed, that Taemin followed his instructions and was confused. “Taemin, please, run away. We fucked up, everyone who’ll retreat to the base now, will be dead,” Stark said, trying to maintain his posture. “Why did we fuck up? What’s with all these documents? Did you know we fucked up way before or what? FUCK STARK, TELL ME!” Stark could hear Taemin’s voice tremble with anger, he was about to lose his shit, if Stark didn’t to something. “We’re against another agency. The enemy is strong, very strong. They have a hacker, which is almost as good as you. He can infiltrate any system and because you weren’t in charge for the security of the whole agency system, he had an easy job snooping around,” Stark explained. “He knew that we would come. I saw traces of him in the security data, I told the boss, but he wasn’t convinced, that the other one had access to our systems and didn’t pay attention to this,” Stark continued with a sigh.

 

Taemin listened to Stark’s explanation. He didn’t believe everything, but he thought that some truth should be in the explanation and especially the part with the agency. If they fucked up this hard or even had a traitor in the team, everyone will be executed. Taemin growled pissed. “I hate my fucking live,” He said looking down on the luggage to his feet. “Where are you?” He asked Stark through the phone. Stark didn’t say anything. “We can’t stay together, for your sake. With me you’re not safe. Please escape,” Stark pleaded. Taemin’s heart pounded hard against his ribs, he clenched his jaws and sighed resigned. “Fine, one last question,” He said and waited for Stark’s reply. “Yeah?” Stark asked quietly. “Did you want to tell me something?”, Taemin asked knowingly. Taemin heard Stark laughing sadly. “Your tone tells me, that you already know, no?” Stark replied. Taemin shook his head. “Well, I think I know that you want to tell me something, but I don’t know what, so would you tell me?” The younger one asked. “I suppose we will never see one another again. I didn’t have the courage to tell you in person, because I’m a coward. Taemin, I love you,” Stark said, almost choking on his words. Taemin held his breath, clenching his phone. “Me too,” Taemin whispered, before Stark said, “I know, thank you for everything, Taemin.” And ended the call.

 

Taemin squeezed his eyes shut, to suppress his tears. That was just too much right now. He looked down on the bags and steeled himself again. Then he corrupted the software of his old phone with his new one and threw the old one with all his rage against a wall, where it shattered to all its bits and pieces. “Fuck…,” He cursed, then strapped the backpack on his shoulders and took the other bags, one on each shoulder. He didn’t know where he should go, so he just walked away from the building, avoiding the streets the agency had parked their cars. The only thing he could think of, were hiding in some hotel with high security measurements. He searched for one with his phone and made his way there. Many thoughts were rushing through his mind.

 

Stark teared up again, as he heard Taemin returning his words. After all, Taemin did love him too. “I hope that you’ll get happy. That you find somebody else, who will do anything for you, who can protect you and who will love you endlessly,” Stark whispered, closing his notebook, he could transfer all the data. Now he had to get out of here. Agent 707 should already wait for him, with one of his cars. Stark looked around and sneaked from one corner to another. After some time, he saw his partners sportscar. One last glance to make sure he wasn’t followed, and he sprinted to the car and seated himself on the front-seat next to the driver’s seat. “Wow, Madame Vanderwood is back in one piece, how nice,” The other redhead said to him. Unfortunately, this redhead right here, was more annoying and nerve-wracking, than Taemin ever was. “Seven, just drive, thanks,” Stark aka Vanderwood said vexed and glared at Seven. “Ya, we should get out of here, the enemy is a little angered and you don’t look so good,” Seven said and eventually drove away from the building.

 

Taemin drove with a Taxi to a hotel, three hours from the mission building and in the other direction of his agency. As soon as he booked a room under his new name, he laid down on the bed, staring up the ceiling. He still wasn’t able to comprehend what the fuck just happened. He knew that he wouldn’t conclude like this, so he took a very long shower and tried to sleep. Of course, he dreamed about Stark, because he was the biggest thought in his mind besides what he should do from now on. Well, Taemin couldn’t really sleep, so he decided to look up the agency information system, where he found, what he thought all along. The agency is trying to track down every agent of the infiltrating team, which means they will all vanish from planet earth. Agents mostly don’t have any relations, that’s why no one will miss them and so it’s easy for the agency to eliminate them.

 

The days gone by fast, as Taemin tried to come to a solution. He made a couple of plans, which were reasonable and picked one of them. For now, he would stay some time at one place and then going to another one. Preferably the places should be quite far apart and absolute random, so no one could ever make out a pattern. The young hacker decided to stay here for some more days, looking up the next place and then traveling again. Taemin also found out that his money was split, some of his money he found in one of the bags and the other part laid in a bank account in another country, of course with his new identity. Because money was the other problem in his current case. He possessed a lot of money, since he was working like crazy and didn’t have anything to spend his money on, besides some parts for the devices he build, but proportionally to his income the expenses were very low. Sure, he could take a part of his money and place it as funds, to make more money, but he should search for some way to make money in another way.

 

Stark was busy with work as soon as he got back to his agency. “Goddammit, the mission was like holidays compared to this hellhole here,” He grumbled. However, his main task was again babysitting Seven most of the time, because he was an adult not able to take his work seriously. Stark did miss Taemin already, not just because he finished his tasks in time, also did he miss him as a person. It would take a long time to overcome this feeling, if it will ever go away. “It was such a pain when you weren’t around Vanderwood,” Seven said grinning at the older agent, who was cleaning the room. “Who cleaned your room while I was gone?” Stark asked curious. “Secret~” Seven chuckled and faced his screens again. The brown-haired male shook his head resigned. “You know the other hacker I told you about? He was way less annoying and stressful as you!” Stark complained and continued cleaning the room, which was a big mess.

 

“Oh, you mean the one who made this awesome program? As a programmer he is really good,” Seven answered sipping on his Dr. Pepper can. “He isn’t just a good programmer for tools, he is also excellent in coding and building different devices,” Stark answered, meanwhile sweeping the floor. “And you told him to run away and never come back. But if he majored in computer science and data science, as his resume said, then he will get back to some sort of this job eventually. Or he opens up an online store, where he sells his self-made devices and programs,” The redhead theorized. “But why is there not a single picture or description of his appearance?” Seven asked curious. “There already was none as I started to work there. Maybe he deleted them himself or they didn’t make one of him. I never asked,” Stark answered and added, “His personal file isn’t complete either. I think it is because he was born as an experiment and not as a normal citizen or whatever.” Seven skimmed through Taemin’s files.

 

“Uh, you mean this here? They really are a strange intelligence agency I would say,” Seven murmured, while reading in the file. “Hold on, they mingled different spermatozoa from different men with high IQ’s and fertilized an ovum from a very intelligent woman, supposedly his mother, then placed the ovum back into the uterus of said women. They wanted to try if it was possible to make genius child’s like this. Well, they had him undergo a ton of tests and he was educated in a lot of things, since he was little too. I don’t know how much you talked to him and how much you got to know from him in person, but here is written that he speaks thirty languages, twenty of them fluently, in five he is advanced and for the other five he knows the fundamentals, that is better than me,” The redhead exclaimed excited and searched the report for one specific information. “Where is it… ahhh, got it! Oh my god, he is a genius, a monster genius as I would say,” Seven almost shouted and Stark frowned. The older agent looked over Seven’s shoulder to get a look on the report too. “Look at this number, holy god! He had an IQ between 270 and 300 in every test they let him do,” 707 said, clapping his hands. “Too bad you won’t tell me his new name, I would like to battle with him, on a sophisticated level I mean,” He wailed.

 

Stark was a little surprised too. He didn’t know him this well, of course he knew that Taemin is some kind of a genius, but he never thought about his knowledge base. “That’s a lot of languages I would say, but essential when hacking through borders I assume,” Stark mentioned. “I guessed that he had a high IQ, just by looking at the program he made. You just have to type in one to three code lines and it will do the whole work with such a high accuracy, that’s amazing. I can absolutely understand, that he wanted to keep that to himself and I promise you, this treasure will never leave the realms of god Seven-Zero-Seven,” The hacker said, still reading the report. “Can I take a look at the notebook you carried here? It’s build by him too, right?” The redhead asked and Stark nodded.

 

Seven snatched the notebook from another table and placed it on his desk. “He made his own operating system too?” He asked Stark, who answered, “Yes, it’s at least as amazing as the other program.” Seven investigated the system and how it operates, what you can do with it etc. After an hour he said, “That is one hell of a firewall dude, the whole thing operates itself, if you try to hack into it and the system gets just a little hint of this, it starts changing the algorithm completely.” Seven was clearly amazed by that. “If one day this gem will die, the only person, who could fix it, is this genius dude you got it from. I am not even able to copy the operating system, because it literally lives. It’s some kind of artificial intelligence or whatever,” Seven was stunned and wanted to meet the creator of this.

 

Taemin already moved into another hotel, in an entire different city as before. He came up with the idea of an underground website, where he could get clients, he claimed to do programming business, where he will definitely get hacking enquiries too. Of course, he won’t accept all enquiries he’ll get, he would have to make checks on the clients first. He already got enquiries, but mostly for normal programming and module creating, nothing spectacular. However, it did make some good money after all. Every now and then Taemin tried to sneak into the agency information system, to get the latest news about their plans or if they already knew what exactly happened at the last mission. As far as Taemin could track the situation they already got three-fourth of the agents, who were within the infiltrating team. It was just Taemin, Stark and two other persons, who were still missing. Taemin did find a report, which said that they should search for him and Stark primarily, not killing them, they wanted to have them alive, especially Taemin.

 

Working on one of the commissions he got, Taemin didn’t really pay attention to time and often worked without eating or even sleeping. “Ugh, being completely alone isn’t the best thing for someone like me… I suppose,” He mumbled to himself, as he forced himself to take a break. Good thing about staying at a hotel is, that he could order food to his room or just go down to the restaurant and eat there. Well, he preferred to be alone for various reasons, so the first option suited him better. When he needed to go out, mostly when he had to change places, he was always disguising himself with a hood and a big pair of dark sunglasses, looking shady as fuck, but well what could one do to hide himself? “I just hope, that they won’t find me. I have to get a permanent place with the safest security system, which I probably have to make myself…,” Taemin thought, while he waited for the train. For some reason he thought that traveling with busses and trains is safer, than taking a taxi, because the taxi driver could be some snitch from the agency and could drive him into a trap, without him noticing or noticing to late. The public transportation was a little safer in this case, because trains for example couldn’t take him into a dark, abandoned alley and if someone seemed suspicious he could just get of and take the next one.

 

It would be the best to have a permanent place, but before that’s going to happen he had to be sure, that the agency wouldn’t catch him soon and regarding the latest reports they were searching the whole country for him and even did some transboundary searches. “They sure are persistent,” Taemin huffed, frowning at the reports. They already tracked down the first hotel he was staying at. “I shouldn’t stay here too long then,” He thought, gritting his teeth. Taemin already felt like someone was watching him, every time he was outside, but that could be simply paranoia. “Stark, how exactly did you think I should escape and begin a new life? I can’t even cross borders, they probably checking the expatriate registers frequently and within Korea I have limited possibilities. What are you doing right now?” Taemin spoke in a low voice to himself. He tried not to think about the other man so often, however every now and then his mind just popped Stark right into the front. “I miss you, asshole,” Taemin laughed a little sad.

 

Doing programming and finally some hacking offers, traveling from place to place, hiding himself, trying to come up with another plan in the meantime, that was Taemin’s life in the past three months. “My hair is freaking long man,” He declared, while looking into the hotel room mirror. He did trim his side-cut every time he shave, but his main hair was just growing and growing. “Should re-dye my roots someday too,” Taemin sighed and tied his hair into a ponytail. Then he opened his notebook to check the agency information system once again. He did that frequently, so that he knew if they had any traces of him. There was a new filed report, which Taemin opened with lightning speed. However, what he read there was interesting information. The report said, that the agency thinks that there was a spy from another intelligence agency within the infiltration team, because lots of data was stolen, while the mission was in progress. They don’t know exactly who it was and from which agency this person was, but they had some clues.

 

“If I find one crumble of your disgusting chips on the floor, I’m going to taser you for real this time,” Vanderwood threatened Seven, who just ignored him and continued happily munching on his chips and sipping on his Dr. Pepper. “My head hurts, what in the world happened, for you to be like this?”, the brown-haired male asked and didn’t get any answers this time too. Seven was focused on the screens of his computer, but not focusing on his work, though looking at a server with the title ‘R.F.A.’, which was the association he was a member of. “Hey Vanderwood, look at this. There was clearly someone messing with the code, or what do you say?” Seven asked serious and pointed at one screen. As mentioned before, Vanderwood aka Stark knew some programming languages, but wasn’t too skilled in using them. Nonetheless, he looked at the codes from the screen Seven was pointing at. “Oh, even I can see that, so ya someone messed with your server,” The older agent said, which lead to Seven anxiously calling someone.

 

Vanderwood accustomed to his usual life and work within his agency again pretty fast. Everything was back to normal, as if he never left for almost two years. Seven didn’t change at all, if he changed, then to the worse. He got some updates from his agency about the activities from the enemy agency. They were still searching for him, certainly they will never find him. Another good news was, that they didn’t catch Taemin until now either. Even so, they were desperately searching for him and they found some things, where they thought this could be evidence that he stayed there. As hard as it was for Vanderwood, he tried not to think about the other redhead too often, he had to move on. He will never ever see him again, the only thing he could do, was hoping for Taemin to find his path to a better life. He buried him inside his heart, but he had to forget everything else, so he himself could also move on.

 

Taemin perfected his ‘run-and-hide’ skills, it was a part of his life now, as was hacking, eating and sleeping. Sometimes he would read some books, play LOLOL or do jigsaw puzzles on the hotel floor, where he, most of the time, left the finished pieces. He also searched himself some online friends, so that he wouldn’t feel too lonely. Of course, he did a thoroughly background check on all of them. In total he had frequent contact with three people. Two of them were guild members from LOLOL and one person just someone he talked to about books and unimportant things. Sometimes Taemin played with the thought to go out in some shitty bars, getting him some guy to play with, however it was just too risky for him. With real life people he couldn’t do a background check on the spot, which was too high of a risk to take for some stupid fuck. So, he decided his hand or the toy, he purchased some time ago, had to be enough of a fuck buddy. “I am pathetic, but whatever,” Taemin groaned to himself for the fact that he thought about getting off, when he was chased.

 

It was now over six months after the failed mission. Taemin was on his way to the train station, as he felt more than one pair of menacing eyes watching him. “Oh please, tell me this isn’t true…,” He hissed and pulled his hood even deeper into his face, which was hidden behind his sunglasses. “There’s no point in running away now, Mr. Yang,” A rough voice said in a low but threatening tone. Taemin didn’t hear his ‘real’ surname for a long time, which made him shiver from the icy feeling in his guts. “I don’t know what you are talking about. Do I know you?” Taemin said cocky, not making eye contact. He could hear the other person chuckle, but it wasn’t a friendly chuckle, it was one of those, where you now that something bad is going to happen. “I think we know each other quite well, Taemin. Don’t be so stupid and stubborn. I don’t want to hurt you. You are very precious and valuable to us,” The person said quietly. Taemin recognized the voice now, it was one of the professors, who did a ton of hellish tests with him, when he was younger and even when he was older.

 

Taemin gritted his teeth but didn’t turn around. “I see that you are alone, I would have thought, that you would travel around with your little traitor friend,” The professor said and now Taemin looked at him confused. A mischievous grin played around the corner of the other mans face. Taemin tilted his head and looked the professor dead in the eye through his sunglasses. The professor couldn’t see Taemin’s eyes. “Stark, so he called himself, was a secret agent from an enemy agency. He infiltrated us and stole a great amount of data from us, but you should know about his, no? You were pretty close to him,” The professor said and Taemin froze on the spot. “Wh-What did you say?” He asked without thinking, it just slipped out. The professor grinned amused. “So, you really didn’t know about his true identity? Poor boy, he used your loneliness to get close to you, so he could steal even more data. I’m sure he copied some of your own creations as well,” The older man purred into Taemin’s ear, which made his stomach churn. Taemin scanned his surroundings, what ever this person had to say, he won’t go back to the agency, ever. So, he tried to analyze the fastest and safest escape route.

 

The professor did tell him some other things, however Taemin didn’t pay attention and focused on the best way out of here. Then he suddenly laid his hands on the professor’s shoulders and exclaimed, “Oh! I’m so sorry Mister, I didn’t want to shove you! Please have this as an apology!” Taemin gave him a handful of fast-food coupons he got from a magazine the other day. Then he grabbed his bags and made a run for his escape route, he had analyzed. He was running without stopping, he didn’t even look back, he just ran. As he was sure, that he didn’t feel any eyes on him, which wanted to catch him, he slowed down and hid in a corner. Taemin was panting, his leg muscles protesting from the sudden strain. As he heard a handful people calling out his name, he pressed himself against the wall and held his breath. That’s when he noticed a person next to him. “Oh fuck…,” He whispered and eyed the other person from the side. It was a young man, maybe the same age as Taemin or even a little younger. He did glance at Taemin but averted his eyes shortly after. Taemin sighed relieved.

 

“Taemin, we’re not here to harm you and we never will, please come back with us, to your home,” One of the agency members said, the voice was alarming near. Taemin sneaked even more into the shadows and tried to lessen the sound of his panting. As the other young man noticed the reaction of Taemin, he payed a little more attention to the black clothed man next to him. “Just go away, dammit…,” Taemin hissed quietly and let himself slide into a crouching position. The other young man, who had white hair with pinkish tips, left the shadows and approached the man, who were searching for Taemin. “Do you search for someone?” He asked one of the agency members, as soon as Taemin heard that, his heart stopped for a moment and he felt nauseous. “Yes, did you see a tall young man, with a black hoodie and sunglasses?” The agency member asked, and the other young man pointed at another direction. “I saw him escaping in this direction,” He said, and the agency member yelled something and they all went in the direction the other young man pointed.

 

“Oh my god, thank you so much…,” Taemin breathed out with a trembling voice. Taemin had lean his head against the wall and straightened up, that’s when his hood slid back, and the other person could see his crimson hair. “Your name is Taemin?” The young man asked and Taemin looked him in the eyes. Taemin put back his hood and shook his head, “No, my name is Kyoung-soo. That’s not the first time someone chased me, calling me Taemin. Maybe I look like someone who broke out from jail or something,” Taemin lied without hesitating. “Oh, that is really inconvenient. My name is Ray, nice to meet you Kyoung-soo,” Ray said with a friendly face. Taemin could see, that the other person had besides his strange hair color, also a strange eye color. Those eyes reminded him of another person, they weren’t as minty as V’s, but they were similar. “Thank you again, Ray. I have to go now, I hope you will have a nice day,” Taemin said, grabbing his bags to go back to his platform, waiting for the train.

 

Ray stood in the shadows of the corner, clenching his fingers around his phone. He couldn’t see the eyes of the person from before, but he was sure, that it was _that_ Taemin his savior was looking for. The white-haired young man did find a connection to one of the devices Taemin had with him, so he could try and connect with Taemin later, when he was back at Magenta. First, Ray called his savior. “Savior? I think I found Taemin, but I’m not one hundred percent sure yet. I try to confirm it, as soon as I get back,” Ray said, and his heart fluttered for excitement. “Yes, thank you my savior,” He ended the call and smiled blissfully to himself.

 

“I still don’t get why you separated him from us and especially me. I am sure, he wouldn’t have ended up like this,” A young man with slicked back black hair said sully to the other person on the line. His emerald green eyes were hidden behind stylish sunglasses and he wore a fashionable black suit with a coat. “You don’t have to explain this to me now, I have to go,” He said, ending the call without waiting for a reply from the other person. The young man had his eyes on another young man, who wore a black hoody, big sunglasses, dark gray harem pants and sneakers. “Taemin, I will make sure to get you back and let you have better influence,” The black-haired young man whispered with a wicked smile on his lips. He unobtrusive followed Taemin into the train, seating himself in the wagon next to Taemin’s. He didn’t get off his eyes from Taemin, so that he wouldn’t miss him getting off the train.

 

Taemin still felt uneasy, as if someone was watching him, but he didn’t see any people from the agency and no one with their typical dark blue suit. “The agency already tracked me down somehow. Fuck, fuck, fuck! Maybe I shouldn’t live at hotels, maybe I should hide in some abandoned buildings? Or I buy a tent and some camping equipment and hide out in some forest,” Taemin thought anxious, looking around. He clawed his fingers into his bags, sighing heavily and he hoped that his stop would come faster. As he finally arrived at his destination, he glanced around his surroundings one more time before leaving the train. He didn’t walk straight to the hotel building, he made a detour to a bakery near the station to get some coffee for his nerves to calm down. Taemin seated himself at the rare most corner of the bakery with a coffee in his hands.

 

The black haired young man followed Taemin again and waited near the bakery, his eyes always on the entrance, so that he wouldn’t miss Taemin getting out. After some minutes his phone rang, again the boss from the intelligence agency. The young man sighed stressed out. “What is it now?” He asked irritated. _“I’m not a big fan of people hanging up on me, dear Jaemin,”_ The boss said and Jaemin frowned, pinching his nose. “I’m sorry, but I found Taemin and I am following him right now, to see where he’s staying and what he is up to next,” The black-haired young man answered, waiting for a reply from the boss. _“You found him?”_ The boss asked confused. Jaemin let out a disbelieving chuckle. “Well, Taemin was hiding in some cornered alleyway, there was a person who helped him by telling the others he ran away in some other direction. I don’t think he knew that person, he was just lucky,” The young man answered still watching the bakery entrance attentive.   _“Keep me updated,”_ Were the last words from the boss before he eventually hung up.


	4. Organizations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taemin will have some interesting encounters and will be introduced into some organizations ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the late update, I have multiple works in progress and was working on another one the past weeks... but here you are a new chapter :D

Taemin made his way to the hotel, where he would stay as of now, after he emptied his coffee. He was still feeling extremely anxious and couldn’t get the thought out of his mind, that someone was still following him, but as before he couldn’t see any familiar people from the agency. In this part of town there were only rich and elegant people. Taemin was absolutely out of place with his attire. Nonetheless, he made his way to the reception desk and checked in, he already booked the room when he still stayed at the other hotel. Of course, the people gave him confused or even disgusted side glances because of the way he was dressed. “Just because I don’t dress like you snobs don’t mean that I am not as rich as you. Sure, I’m not a billionaire, but I have at least as much money as most of the people in this room and probably have more brains than any of them,” Taemin murmured to himself and took the elevator to the last floor, where only the most expensive and luxurious rooms were.

 

He didn’t choose those rooms because he had too much money, but because they were guarded by scary looking security dudes. Taemin hoped that this would be enough protection at first. Well, the guards had some confused looks on their faces, as they saw Taemin stopping in front of one of the rooms with the key card in his hand. The crimson-haired young man sighed and shook his head, then turned around. “You know guys, I don’t wear an expensive suit, however those clothes did cost at least as much as one of those suits. Can show you the prices for this brand if you don’t believe me,” He said with a smirk, then he entered his room. It wasn’t a lie, his clothes were freaking expensive, but they were worth it. They weren’t mass production, weren’t made under cruel or inhumane conditions and consists of the highest quality materials. Taemin hated it when clothing felt itchy, rough or stiff.

 

“I have some commissions to finalize, I need to take a shower and maybe eat something. After that I should sleep somewhat and think about what to do next,” Taemin mumbled to himself. The first thing he did, was going into the shower, where he remembered the words of the professor. “Stark was a spy? If that’s true, then did he… just use me?” Taemin asked himself and felt horror rising in his thoughts. He finished washing his hair and hurried to the room, where he placed his notebook. He instantly hacked into the information system from the agency. Where he found that newest information, Stark was assuredly a spy from another agency, with the task to steal data and information, also to damage the insides of the agency. With trembling hands Taemin hacked into his old work computer, searching for clues and did find something, which felt like a punch in his guts. The data folders of his analyzing program were copied to an external device, when he still stayed at the agency. Taemin made sure to destroy the software of his old work computer, so no one could use the data on there anymore.

 

When he finished, Taemin didn’t know what he should feel. He surely was mad, but not just mad at Stark but at himself. “I made the biggest mistake, didn’t I? Ignored the first and most important rule for any secret agent…” Taemin whispered and buried his face into his hands. “I trusted another person, I… I loved that person…,” His voice was trembling, and he felt his eyes burning. Taemin couldn’t believe that Stark just used him to get more information. The connection they had, that wasn’t just fake from Stark’s side or was it? Taemin brushed back his hair and clenched his teeth. “You didn’t do all this with me just to use me, I won’t believe this…,” Taemin whispered and felt tears running down his cheeks. “But you were the only person who knew about my analyzing program and you stole it, you probably took the custom notebook with you too…,” He said in a low voice, staring at the wall. “That was unpredictable, I would have never thought you would do this to me, after all that you said to me…,” He continued mumbling to himself, feeling the hurt of betrayal in his chest.

 

Taemin didn’t finish any work that night, his thoughts were racing about Stark, himself, their relationship, about what he read, analyzing their time together and eventually falling asleep of exhaustion. Of course, Taemin had disturbing nightmares about Stark literally stabbing his back, grinning at him with an evil look on his face, taunting him, leaving him behind bleeding with the knife still in his back. Taemin woke up early, his clothes drenched in sweat, feeling nauseous. His breath was ragged as he sat up from where he was lying. “Stark…,” He whispered still shocked and not sure what he should believe. “Was it truly such a fucking severe mistake to trust you? Am I that dense? But why did you… oh, don’t tell me you provided me the new identity because of you feeling guilty in the final spurt?” Taemin muttered to himself. He didn’t know what to believe and what to think. He needed Stark to tell him the truth himself. He needed to look him dead in the eyes, talking face to face. If he was thinking about it himself, he would just go crazy and maybe would come to the wrong solution.

 

Taemin took again a shower and changed his clothes. He tried to wear some more appropriate clothes, which was a little tricky because he didn’t have much formal clothing. “I just want to go get something to eat, do I really need to wear a full suit?” He thought, while searching through his bags. In the end he decided on a black dress shirt with black jeans and his usual black boots, because he just had some sneakers as spare shoes, which didn’t match with the rest of the outfit. He combed his crimson hair, which grew from his shoulders to the middle of his chest and styled it into a ponytail. “I still need to re-dye my fucking roots,” He sighed, splashing water into his face and brushing his teeth. Then he made his way to a floor in the middle of the hotel, where the VIP-restaurant was, this one was guarded too. The people around him had a bunch of different reactions regarding him. Taemin ignored them as well as he could.

 

It was breakfast time, where the hotel restaurant had a buffet. So, Taemin grabbed two croissants with butter and cheese slices. Then he got a cup of black coffee and seated himself at a table for two people. A few minutes later someone stepped next to his table and asked, “Excuse me, would you mind a little company?” Taemin rose his eyes to the other person and was a little startled. “Who are you?” He asked with a scowl on his face. Taemin didn’t have a good feeling with this person, who looked a lot like himself, just with some little sharper facial features. His eyes were as emerald green as his and the basic shape of his face was similar to Taemin’s. The other person smirked. “My name is Jaemin,” The black-haired young man answered and seated himself opposite from Taemin, placing his food on the table. Taemin frowned and felt very uncomfortable.

 

Jaemin grinned to himself, as he saw the confused and a little shocked face of the crimson-haired young man. He had paced on the restaurant floor for quite some time hoping to catch Taemin here and he was lucky. Now he sat with the other young man at the same table and looked him dead in the eyes. “I don’t know you. What do you want?” Taemin asked wary. Jaemin smirked again and answered, “That pains me to hear. I know you very well, Taemin.” The expression of the crimson-haired young man hardened, his whole posture stiffened. He clenched his jaws together, you could see his muscles work on his face. “I will never come back, if that is bothering you that much, then just kill me already,” Taemin hissed in a low voice. Jaemin rose his eyebrows. “Why would I kill you?” He asked scandalized. “Don’t fuck with me. I don’t know you, I don’t know where you came from, but I am absolutely sure that all of the members, who went back to the agency or were found by them, were killed,” Taemin whispered indignant. “Then you should know, that they want you alive,” Jaemin answered calmly.

 

Taemin felt terrible. He never ever saw that person in his life. He knew everyone in the agency, he read all personal files. However, this person seemed to be from the agency and wasn’t much older than himself. “Who are you? I know _everyone_ in the agency,” Taemin said and clenched his hands around the arm rests of his chair. This time Jaemin smiled friendly. “Well, what about your personal file? Is there one in the first place?” He then asked with his eyebrows up. There was a file of Taemin, however it didn’t contain much information and was hidden within the codes, not directly accessible. “So, you want to tell me that your file is the same as mine? Well, so be it, but who, the fuck, are you?!” Taemin slammed his hands on the table, which brought them annoyed glances from the other tables. “Calm down, please? Would you like to talk in your room?” Jaemin suggested. Taemin hissed at him, taking his food and walking out the restaurant.

 

Jaemin followed the other young man to his room. They seated themselves on the table, which stood in front of a big window. “I didn’t know, that they never told you about me,” Jaemin said while propping his chin up his hand. Taemin narrowed his eyes angrily, glaring at the other young man. “Do you know your origins?” The black-haired young man asked. Taemin thought about that question for some time and sighed. “Yes… of course nobody told me, but I’m a hacker... I didn’t know for quite some time, however after she died, I did some research and found a file about me. About an experiment, which had my name,” Taemin answered, shaking his head. “Well, I was the outcome from an experiment they did. Which explained the distant and cold behavior of my ‘mom’ towards me and the non-existent father,” Taemin said with a scowl on his face. Jaemin straightened his posture and brushed his fingers through his black hair.

 

“Right, you were the successful experiment, providing the desired results,” Jaemin repined, his face hardening. “What do you mean?” Taemin was just genuinely confused. Jaemin sighed resigned and said, “They did three trials at the same time with different ova from different women but with the same mixture of spermatozoa. Two trials were successful in terms of becoming pregnant at all and one didn’t get this far.” Taemin understood now, what the other young man wanted to say. “So, you are the other experiment? In that sense somehow my step-brother? I mean you said they used the same sperm, but different ova,” Taemin summarized. The other one nodded. “Something like that, however as it seems one string of genes was pretty dominant regarding the outer appearance,” Jaemin said while leaning back. “You said I was the ‘successful’ experiment, which provided the desired results. Does that mean you didn’t?” Taemin asked now curious. Jaemin sighed heavily.

 

“I am not an useless result, nonetheless I was just an average result and you were the top-notch result,” Jaemin explained to Taemin. “How so?” Taemin asked raising an eyebrow. Jaemin laughed and answered, “They tried to create geniuses. Childs, who have a higher IQ than the average from the start and who’s IQ can be trained even higher, when strictly educated from the beginning. You had a very high IQ from the start and it sky rocketed as you grew up. Mine was within the average and no matter how hard I learned and how much they educated me, I just crawled slightly above the average. Your IQ is twice as high as mine.” Taemin looked dumbfounded and sighed. “But I am sure you’re capable of a lot of things. And, you’re probably far more sociable than me. Nice and shiny to have a brilliant brain, if you can’t interact with other persons normally,” Taemin snorted. At that statement Jaemin chuckled amused.

 

“I suppose that’s not because you’re a genius. They separated you from other people, you only had contact with the professors and tutors. We two were together until we turned eight. You never saw another child again until you got into high school. They tried to rehabilitate you as a teenager, which didn’t work too well,” Jaemin explained further. “Then after you graduated from college with a very young age at that. You were a shut-off again, surrounded just by binary numbers, codes and your books. The only contact to other people consisted of the time you played that online game,” The black-haired young man said. “I opposed that, I tried to convince them to let me talk to you. But they didn’t want us to be together again and I had to accept that. However, I want you to come back and join my team. We’re trying to track down the spy,” Jaemin exposed his request.

 

Taemin looked up at the last sentence. “You’re trying to catch Stark? And what exactly do you want to do with or to him?” Taemin asked skeptical. “Ah, right you two were pretty close to each other, no? Well, he used you, he betrayed you. I don’t think he deserves your concern Taemin. You should help me track him down and let him get his punishment,” Jaemin tried to convince Taemin to join his team. “I am operating on my own, sure I work for the agency; however, I have my own methods and resources,” The black-haired young man said. Jaemin could see that Taemin was hesitating and didn’t want to join him against his former friend or even lover. “You see Taemin, I understand that this isn’t easy for you, nonetheless do you really think that this person had genuine intentions? Do you think he would have left you by yourself if he cared for you? Is that how you treat the person you truly love?” Jaemin talked with a persuasive voice. “Even if he had to fear consequences from his own agency for example by bringing you with him, if he would have genuinely cared for you, he would have tried to bring you with him. Or what would you have done in this situation?” Jaemin wasn’t as high intelligence as Taemin, so he was made into a person, who played with other people’s minds and emotions to make them do, what they wanted them to do.

 

It didn’t matter how high Taemin’s IQ was, he hasn’t had much experience with other people, he didn’t know much about socializing and how you act for and with other people. Which was one reason why Jaemin’s words could cloud Taemin’s perception of what things were the right to do and which not. “I’m not sure what I would have done. We didn’t have a serious relationship in the first place. Of course, I’m mad at him, but I won’t track him down with you. If I want to track him down, I’m doing it by myself. I won’t come with you and I want you and the agency to leave me alone,” Taemin said in a harsh tone. Jaemin tried again, “Why are you against this so much? We won’t hurt you, you were always precious to me, even if we were separated. They kept me updated about you and I was allowed to watch you. I always wanted to be there for you, to help you, but I couldn’t. Now I have the chance to do so and it would make me truly sad if you refuse.”

 

Taemin felt his anger building up in his guts. “Get out and never show your face to me again,” Taemin growled. That’s when Jaemin pulled a syringe from his suit jacket and walked towards Taemin. “You sick piece of shit!” Taemin yelled and got up from his chair to step back from the other man. “Come here _little kitten_ , don’t be a scaredy-cat,” Jaemin cooed with a wicked smile on his face. As soon as Taemin heard his nickname from Stark, his anger overpowered the fear and he used his knowledge in martial arts to knock the syringe out of Jaemin’s hand. Then he pushed him onto the bed, strangling him, to squeeze down his carotid long enough to make him unconscious. As the other male stopped moving, but was still breathing, Taemin let go of him. Packing up his things as fast as lightning, throwing on his hoody and sunglasses, bolting out the room, checking out of the hotel and then he just ran through the city, until his legs and lungs screamed with pain.

 

He was hiding at the outskirts of the city until it was late and dark outside. Then he brought a train ticket, which took him six hours away from here. During the ride he searched for a rundown place to stay at. Taemin switched tactics. He would avert expensive hotels and instead used unknown or despised, rundown motels. “They are all just fucking crazy,” Taemin exclaimed as he leaned back against his seat. He had still two and a half hours left until the train would arrive at its destination. Taemin decided to continue some of his commissions. He could wrap up quite much of the commissions he had at the time the train arrived and he had to get off. It was the middle of the night, Taemin had found some places he would asked to let him stay. Unfortunately, the first and nearest place declined him, so he had a thirty minutes’ walk ahead of him in a region he didn’t know. Eventually he got to the second place on his list, which was originally a love/sex hotel, however he needed a place to stay and the people did offer him a room. “Thank you so much,” Taemin sighed relieved and gave them way more money, as the room would cost.

 

Taemin laid on the bed staring up the ceiling, instantly thinking about Stark and their last night together. “I miss my starry sky projector… I know how terrified Stark was about letting someone be on top of him. So, did he really let me do this just to avoid any suspicion from my side?” Taemin thought and frowned. “Was our time together just fake? I can’t believe this, but some things, which the other guy from before stated seemed plausible…,” He sighed and closed his eyes, just to see Stark’s face with a sad smile, which was telling him, that he was sorry, but was he truly sorry? Taemin punched his fists into the mattress underneath him, to let out some steam. He had a tornado of feelings inside his chest and couldn’t comprehend the situation. Taemin felt lost, he was alone, there was nobody beside him, he lost his home and didn’t know where to go, what to do. As his thoughts just ran through his mind, tears were flowing down his cheeks and at some point, his emotions were overflowing him, which lead to him laughing insanely.

 

“What the hell… Stark, you said you wanted me to have a better life, but I didn’t have a ‘life’ as that in the first place and now everything is pointless, anything I had until now is destroyed too, what am I supposed to do? What did you want me to do? Or was that what you said and did just a parade to hide your true intensions and nothing was real at all? Did I get played and used that bad by you?” Taemin asked himself, gritting his teeth, tears still leaking from his eyes. At first his chest felt like exploding, it was hurting really bad and he had a hard time breathing, however after some time, while he was crying silently, his chest felt empty. It was an aching emptiness, one you only feel, when you’ve lost something important to you. “I was a stone-hearted, emotionless being until you came into my life. You awakened something inside of me, something I never knew I was capable of. And what did you do with this? Using my inexperience for your advantage, getting close to me to use me and then throw me away…,” Taemin whispered to himself. His tears dried out some time ago, leaving him with this lonely and empty feeling. His mind clouded itself with negatives thoughts until he fell asleep from exhaustion.

 

_“We’re no longer able to get access to the information server from the enemy agency. If you want to take a look at it, I send you the details in an e-mail,”_ One of Vanderwood’s colleagues from the agency said. “I’ll look into it, thanks,” The brown-haired man answered and ended the call. “Hey 707! Could you please open this and show me the codes?” Vanderwood asked the feisty redhead. Seven opened the file he got from Vanderwood and showed him the coding, which destroyed their latest connection to the enemy agency. Vanderwood was a little surprised, he knew this style, it was definitely Taemin, who damaged the software of his old work computer. “Ohh~ that was your little friend from back there, right? This are similar patterns to what he uses for programming,” Seven said looking through the codes. “Huh?” Seven rose his eyebrows and opened a specific line of codes to decode it. “Uh, Madame… I think this is for you,” Seven pointed at his screen, while turning to Vanderwood. The older agent leant forward to read the text: ‘They tracked me, they almost got me today. I escaped today, but who knows what the future will be…? I trusted you, asshole. Have fun with MY WORK!’ Vanderwood stepped back from the screens, his eyes widened in shock.

 

“I wanted to say, that he is pretty sharp, but he is a genius after all,” Seven chuckled. The brown-haired man tried to remain cool, nonetheless he was startled at what he had read. “He destroyed the software from his work PC because of his agency not because of us, however, he knows by now, who was the cause of all this commotion…,” Vanderwood said more to himself than so Seven. “I wonder what he is up to now. Hopefully he won’t attack us, for his sake,” The redhead exclaimed and continued with his own work. Vanderwood didn’t pay attention and heard those words

‘I trusted you, asshole’ in Taemin’s pissed voice inside his head, over and over again. “It’s better for you to hate me, even if the thought pains me badly,” Vanderwood thought and tried to focus on their next task. “The enemy won’t find us in the near future and as it seems, they are not interested in getting us, but the guy,” Seven explained, what he had found. Vanderwood just nodded as an answer.

 

Taemin tried to continue his pointlessness of a life. He stayed at the love-motel for about six weeks, before he changed locations again. He did his commissions as good as it was possible at the current circumstances, he also played LOLOL again, to feel less lonely. He was still clueless about what to do with his life. Finding a proper home wasn’t too easy with the agency still trying to catch him. “Will they ever give up on me? Especially that creepy Jaemin guy?” Taemin asked loudly and shook his head. Against his will, Taemin thought of different people, which made huge impacts in his life. One was, of course, Stark and the other one was the mint-haired photographer V. Even if he didn’t know him for long, he had made a big impression and he felt special, the same goes for Stark, he felt special too. “Yes, you did feel special Stark. There definitely was something real to your behavior towards me, however you still betrayed the trust you’ve had. There could have been so many other options to go with, well you choose to throw me away, ignoring everything we had, abandoning me…,” Taemin whispered into the small room, staring at the screen of his notebook, where he tried to code.

 

His grudge against Stark didn’t go away, it just grew stronger with every minute, hour, day and week that passed. It was now three months since the encounter with his ‘stepbrother’ and the agency. They almost gave up searching for him, but someone must have told them to continue looking for him. However, their search team was reduced to a handful of people, which didn’t seem very skilled at what they were doing. So, Taemin was relatively save for now. Which didn’t mean, that he could come out from hiding just yet. “Ahh, I’m not sure what comes to my mind, when I’m thinking about ‘a normal life’ but I am sure it’s not what I am living right now…,” The crimson-haired young man sighed, while doing a commission. His little dark-web business was going well, making him some decent money. “Whatever I should do with this much money in my pointless life anyway…,” He grumbled. “Thank you Stark, what a wonderful life I’m living right now… not. I truly like to know, what exactly you had in mind…,” Taemin hissed and smashed the keys on his notebook a little harder, while typing.

 

“Finally, there you are! I searched so long, to bring you to our savior…,” The white-haired young man whispered, while trying to connect to the phone of the redhead, he was observing through a CCTV in a café. “My savior has a special task for you, you should accept and appreciate it,” He continued whispering to himself, sending the first messages:

 

Unknown: Hi!

 

Unknown: Finally, someone to talk to, thank god…

 

Kyoung-soo: Who are you? Where am I?

 

Unknown: Hehe…  


Unknown: I’m an app developer. And this is a chat room I created.

 

Unknown: Hope I didn’t surprise you. Don’t be nervous, I’m just an ‘ordinary’ person~

 

Kyoung-soo: Why are you emphasizing the word ordinary…? It’s making me even more nervous

 

Unknown: You’re funny lol

 

Unknown: But I can’t really say I’m extraordinary when I’m introducing myself.

 

Unknown: Shouldn’t I be humble and modest? In fact, … I’m really excited.

 

Unknown: Cuz the first person to come in is you, Kyoung-soo!

 

Unknown: I was so worried that no one will come in as I was making this app.

 

Kyoung-soo: Is there something I can do for you?

 

Unknown: Oh, thanx for asking! Cuz there is a favor I want to ask…

 

Unkown: Though I know it’s too much to ask from a stranger… there is something I really want you to help me with.

 

Kyoung-soo: What is it?

 

Unknown: well… This app isn’t just a messenger app, it’s a messenger game app.

 

Unknown: I wanted to ask if you could test it out for me. Game concept is chatting with pretty/good-looking guys ^^

 

Kyoung-soo: Doesn’t sound that interesting…

 

Unknown: Don’t be so mean, my first tester. Why not try it out?

 

Kyoung-soo: Well, tell me more…

 

Unknown: ah, wait a moment!

 

-Unknown left the conversation-

 

Ray decided to continue the conversation through a phone call. _“Unknown from the messenger?”_ The other person asked, and Ray confirmed. “You see, I heard you’re a good programmer and wanted you to test the app and help me developing it. You can also stay here with us,” Ray said, hoping he didn’t say anything wrong. Then he thought the other person hung up, but he could hear the breathing.

 

Taemin was genuinely confused. Who was that person and what did he really want from him? It wasn’t someone from the agency, was it? Taemin had now two different smartphones his modified hacking phone and a normal one, which was also the one that got hacked by this mysterious person on the other line. Then Taemin got a flashback from some month before. “Are you the one from the alley?” He asked curious. He heard a surprised sound on the other end. _“You remembered me just by hearing my voice?”_ The other person asked amazed. “What do you want?” Taemin ignored the question, he just wanted to know what the intensions of that person were. _“As I said, I want your help Kyoung-soo,”_ The young man said and Taemin frowned, because it was still funny to hear this name instead of his real one. “Fine, where are you?” Taemin asked. Maybe he had a chance to hide from the agency there and live a little more relaxed. _“Send me your address, I will send a car to get you here,”_ The other person replied. Taemin wasn’t too sure about it, but he would track the way with his other phone, so if something might happen, he would be prepared. “Alright, see you later,” Taemin ended the call and send the coordinates to the mysterious person.

 

Taemin had to wear a sleeping mask, so he wouldn’t see where they were going. He knew something like that would happen, which is why he decided to track the way with his modified phone. They drove about 4 or 5 hours before the car stopped. The car door opened, and someone greeted him, Taemin recognized the voice as the one from the white-haired dude. What was his name again? He introduced himself in the alley. “Ray?” Taemin asked and the other young man was a little surprised. “You remember even my name?” Ray asked amazed. Taemin shrugged and nodded. “Come with me, please let the blind fold on until we are in your room, okay?” Ray asked and tugged at Taemin’s sleeve, so that Taemin would follow him. Taemin sighed but didn’t protest and just followed the other guy. They walked for some time and took stairs as well, Taemin assumed the room to be at the third floor. How big was this building? “We’re here let me take off the blind fold,” Ray said friendly and removed the sleeping mask.

 

Taemin blinked sometimes before his eyes adjusted to the brightness. He stood in a big room, which was in a Baroque style. “Where are we?” Taemin asked baffled, when he looked out the window and saw a big garden. “This is Magenta, where the lost souls find their paradise,” Ray said with a smile. Taemin tilted his head and asked, “And what should I do here?” Ray told him again about this ‘messenger game app’, which Taemin should test and tell Ray his opinion and what he could do better etc. Taemin let Ray install the app on his normal smartphone. “If you need anything, you can contact me through this app. Please don’t leave the third floor, your bags are in the closet,” Ray said and left the room. The crimson-haired young man instantly opened the app-data and analyzed it with his other phone, just to find what he was suspecting. “It’s a cracked version of an actual messenger app, that’s no game, this will be real people. What the hell is going on?” Taemin whispered to himself, letting himself fall on the bed and opening the messenger.

 

Taemin chuckled, while reading the conversation that was going on. They talked about Jumin Han’s bestselling book. As soon as Taemin looked at the user names, he was startled and as soon as he read about R.F.A. his eyes widened in shock. “Oh my god, is that real? That’s V’s and Rika’s organization…,” Taemin whispered to himself in shock. After a while the user name ‘707’ noticed that someone intruded their messenger, and everyone was a little flustered. V said then, that he didn’t see this person before. Taemin’s user name was Kyoung-soo. Taemin answered in the chat room:

 

Kyoung-soo: Aren’t you all pretty slow in noticing me? It’s been a while since I came in.

 

Surprisingly Taemin got to know that the 707 person, also referred to as Seven or Luciel, was a hacker and he thought that Taemin would be someone from a group of hackers, who challenged him. “Unfortunately, I’m no member in some hacker group,” Taemin chuckled to himself, nonetheless he was in a mood to trick them a little and replied:

 

Kyoung-soo: Exactly.

 

They discussed a little further and a blonde guy named Yoosung asked:

 

Yoosung: hey. Where are you from, Kyoung-soo?

 

A wicked smile curled around Taemin’s mouth, as he replied:

 

Kyoung-soo: From another planet.

 

As it seemed Seven wasn’t able to track down Taemin’s location, which meant that Ray had done a good job, when modifying this cracked version of the app. Then Jumin approached him:

 

Jumin Han: For what purpose did you log into this messenger?

 

Taemin remembered the conversation with Ray, but he wasn’t in a mood for seriousness and replied:

 

Kyoung-soo: I just came to chat with pretty guys.

 

They discussed, whom he meant with pretty, then they got serious again. Discussing if they should force Taemin out the messenger, cutting access etc. Taemin was a little confused, because it seemed that all the members of the so called R.F.A. were in the chat room, except for V’s girlfriend Rika. So, Taemin asked:

 

Kyoung-soo: Where is Rika?

 

What Taemin got as an answer startled him again. They told him that Rika passed away some months ago, however Yoosung claimed that there was no evidence that she really died, there was no dead body. Taemin didn’t have a good feeling at all. Then V came up with the suggestion to talk to him on the phone to discuss something. Taemin didn’t know how good V was at recalling someone’s voice, so he wasn’t quite ready to talk with him on the phone and answered:

 

Kyoung-soo: You can just ask me here.

 

Well, of course V wanted to talk to him on the phone, there were no way against that. They then started to say that Taemin was sent by Rika to hold charity parties again and that he should join the R.F.A. as a member. Taemin was utterly confused with all that was happening, then V asked Seven to continue a search about ‘Kyoung-soo’, that’s when Seven asked if that would be okay. The crimson-haired young man frowned at that question. “As if it concerns you if I am okay with it or not. You won’t find anything about my real identity in the first place and if you should find something about my new identity there isn’t much information either,” Taemin thought aloud. Then he typed:

 

Kyoung-soo: Yeah, gladly, if you’re doing the research, Seven ^_^

 

Of course, they didn’t expect such an answer, however they didn’t say much about it. They discussed some things regarding holding parties again with a complete stranger as the coordinator, then they changed to the topic V. V seemed to hold a lot of secrets, some members trusted him wholeheartedly others were suspicious of him. Well, Taemin didn’t know much about V either, he just saw him for a few days at his exhibition almost a year ago. After all the members left the chatroom, V was calling him.

 

V wanted to know how Taemin knew Rika and he answered, “I met her twice, so I don’t know her much,” V seemed to not recognize Taemin’s voice or he already forget about their encounter at the exhibition. Taemin didn’t want to bring it up either, so he pretended to not know V and that he really was Kyoung-soo and not someone else. They talked about getting to know each other better, as well as the other members of the R.F.A. and that they looked forward to holding parties again. After the call ended Taemin laid on this big and comfortable bed, not knowing where he had himself thrown into. He got up to grab his notebook, perhaps he was able to find some information about the place he was staying at.

 

He signed in from time to time in the messenger, just to get bombarded with questions and suspicion, which wasn’t really surprising. He was an intruder after all and they knew barely anything about him. At one time the blonde cutie Yoosung asked him if he could tell something about himself.

 

Kyoung-soo: Well, I’m Kyoung-soo Min, currently 20 years old. My hobbies are reading, making jigsaw puzzles and playing LOLOL.

 

Yoosung: OMG :O You’re playing LOLOL??!! Which server are you on?

 

Kyoung-soo: Shooting Star from the very beginning. I have 2 characters.

 

Yoosung: That’s my server too! My character’s name is ‘Superman Yoosung’, but I started playing not long ago, so I’m not this good yet!

 

Taemin smiled at that comment and replied:

 

Kyoung-soo: If you’d like, I could help you. My characters are Emerald-Knight and Ta3-M!n, which are both within the Top 5 world ranking.

 

Yoosung was totally in for Taemin helping him level up, so Taemin decided to make his evening into a gaming session. His two online friends from his guild were up to help leveling Yoosung too and giving him some tips for the game. Taemin got some texts from Ray too, asking him if everything was good with the ‘game app’. He thought what he should do, did this guy really think Taemin is that dense? At first Taemin wanted to look, what exactly he was supposed to do at this place, what they really wanted from him and if Ray truly thought that he was this dumb.

 

In the evening Ray came to his room again, asking him if everything was alright and asking about his preferences in food. “Hey Ray, what exactly is this place?” Taemin tried to get some information. Ray looked him straight in the eyes and smiled. “It is our paradise; this place exists to make people happy. We do a lot of things and all for the sake of the people, who were rejected and misunderstood in the cruel world outside,” Ray answered genuine. Taemin frowned, that sounded really fishy. He didn’t see any other person besides the driver until now, so he didn’t know what the other people are like. The room Taemin was staying in had an old style and also Ray was dressed in a suit, which looked very Victorian, just a little more colorful. “You don’t have to be worried, everyone is nice here and you’re not in danger,” Ray said smiling again. Taemin just nodded and sighed. “Well, better than my run and hide game until now…,” The young hacker thought.

 

Taemin was typing away on his notebook, doing some leftover commissions. He took down his website for now, because he wanted to focus on getting more information about what exactly was going on here. As he worked on one of his commissions he got a call from V. “Hello?” Taemin asked. “I told you I would call from time to time. I wanted to ask if you are okay?” V asked and Taemin smiled to himself. V still had his gentle voice, which was soothing to listen to. “I suppose I’m okay for now…,” Taemin answered and he shouldn’t have phrased it like that, because V answered a little alarmed, “What do you mean for now? Is something wrong? You can tell me, when something is bothering you.” Taemin chuckled and asked, “Are you okay, V? You seem quite busy with something.” “I’m… everything is good. I just have some things to take care of, so that everyone is safe. That includes you too, Kyoung-soo,” He answered. As far as Temin could estimate V’s behavior, the mint-haired man was the type to do everything by himself and don’t talk to others for help. That was bothering Taemin, of course, he knew best that trusting others wasn’t a wise decision most of the time, however some things shouldn’t be borne alone. “I am glad to help you out, if something is bothering you too V,” Taemin said. Well, V dodged this comment and they wished each other a good night and ended the call.

 

To Taemin’s surprise he slept pretty well the last night. He got up quite early too and decided to take a shower. He had a whole floor of this building for him alone, except for some hooded guys in robes walking the hallways. “Good morning?” Taemin said, while passing by the hooded people. “For eternal paradise,” They replied and Taemin blinked confused. “Oh okay, well, have a nice day,” He answered and made his way to the bathroom. This encounter did emphasize his suspicion he had before. “So, this really is some kind of cult? I hope they don’t make me join them by force or something…,” He thought while washing his hair. When he got back to his room, there were food on the table beside his bed. “What…?” He asked confused and flinched as his phone rang. It was Ray. “Mornin’ Ray,” Taemin said and fished some clothes out of his bag. “You weren’t in your room… I wanted to give you the breakfast I made in person,” He sighed sadly. “Oh, I’m sorry I took a shower. You could have texted me, then I would have waited for you,” Taemin said. “If I find some spare time, I visit you again in the evening. Please have a good day Kyoung-soo,” Ray answered and ended the call.

 

Taemin sat at the table and ate the food, it was good. After some time, Ray also asked him in the messenger if the food was good, because he made it himself. Taemin smiled at that. Ray seemed to work 24/7 without any breaks at all. What exactly was he doing? Taemin grabbed his notebook and tried to infiltrate the servers in this building, which gave him the information, that Ray was a hacker too. He saw in the logs, that Ray was trying to hack the servers of the R.F.A. messenger and someone battled against him, probably Seven. “What exactly do they want from these people?” Taemin asked frowning. The crimson-haired young hacker was bored, so he decided to interfere between those two and made a code wall with mini games and quizzes, whoever will get through this first will have an advantage in this battle. “They are both still quite some time away from the wall, I should monitor the R.F.A. chat to see when Seven encounters this,” Taemin laughed, while coding at the wall. He saw that both of them used pretty similar coding styles, was one of them a copycat? Because Seven’s coding was somewhat unique. Same goes for Taemin himself, but it helped him many times, because most people wouldn’t understand his algorithms and give up.

 

“What would I give for such an intense hacking battle with someone truly skilled! Unfortunately, Seven was just joking yesterday and he doesn’t know I’m a hacker, so ya there it goes…,” Taemin sighed. He was bored to death, even if he tried to get information, the only things he found so far while searching the servers of this place were information and data about different people, but nothing which gave him a clue on what was going on here. Throughout the day he chatted and called with the other R.F.A. members, sometimes Ray contacted him. When Ray contacted him, he was exhausted or was in pain. Really, what were they making him do? “I know if you have a battle with another hacker, then the chances for sleep are very low, but nevertheless you should take a break in between. Your concentration will thank you…,” Taemin mumbled while scrolling through a bunch of other documents he found. Then someone knocked at his door.

 

Ray picked up the most beautiful roses from the flower garden and made them into a bouquet for his guest. He wasn’t sure why, but somehow the crimson-haired young man didn’t made fun of him and never said something to make him feel bad, also his savior said that he was a very special person. As the white-haired young man made his way to the third floor, two other believers stood in the hallway. “Wait. Out of my way, you all,” Ray said while walking towards the others. “I don’t want these flowers in ruins! They’re for someone very precious,” He continued. One of the hooded people said, “Mr. Ray! Please, go on through.” Ray stepped a little forward and the other figure remembered him of someone. “Hang on. You there… Have we ever met…?” He asked, and the other person answered, “That’s what people often tell me.” Ray frowned and asked, “What’s your number, Believer?” “It’s A306,” The other man answered. Ray tilted his head. “A306…? You’re from the information team.” The person nodded. “That’s right, sir.” “Hmm…, oh, this isn’t the time. He might be waiting for me. Now, excuse me,” Ray said in a harsh tone and walked past the two persons. “For eternal paradise,” They said, and Ray replied, “For eternal paradise.” Then walked towards Taemin’s room.

 

Unfortunately, Taemin wasn’t in his room again. So, Ray placed the flower bouquet on his bed and wanted to leave, as the door opened. The crimson-haired young man entered the room and his emerald green eyes locked with Ray’s eyes. “Oh, good evening,” Taemin said, closing the door. “It’s so nice to finally see you again,” Ray beamed at Taemin and approached him. “I brought you flowers, I hope you’ll like them. I didn’t know, which ones you might like, so I got those…,” He said, blushing slightly. Taemin looked over Ray’s shoulder and saw the roses on the bed. “I, ah… never got flowers as a present, however they look very beautiful,” Taemin said genuinely touched. Which made Ray blush a little harder and smile. “I never gave flowers as a present either, but my savior said I should make you comfortable here and I think flowers make everything a little better,” The white-haired hacker said. “Who is your savior?” Taemin asked curios. Ray smiled at him.

 

“She is a very nice person. She does many good things and helps people to become happy. You will meet her in a few days,” Ray said with a bright smile, however Taemin could sense, that there was more to it, what Ray didn’t want to tell him. “I’m looking forward to it,” Taemin answered, which was the truth, because maybe he would get the chance to get a better understanding on what was happening here. “Right, 707 from the messenger said, that you’re attacking him non-stop. Do you get enough rest?” Taemin asked looking Ray dead in the eyes. Ray blinked a little flustered. “I’m okay, you don’t have to worry about me. I just have to accomplish my given goals,” Ray said and smiled. Taemin could see, that this smile was faker than anything else. Also, Taemin still wasn’t sure if Ray truly believed, that Taemin was buying the AI thing. “You said it’s an app you developed with AI’s, right?” He asked curious. “Yes, why do you ask again?” Ray answered irritated. “They are real people. I mean Jumin Han is a well-known business man, Zen is a known actor as well and I visited an exhibition of V the photographer personally. I don’t know about the other three, nonetheless the mentioned ones are quite known real people,” Taemin said.

 

“I-I just used them as reference! This people in your messenger are just AI’s no one there is real!” Ray insisted and had teary eyes. Taemin sighed. He knew that those people were real, however he didn’t know what and who exactly gave Ray his orders and he didn’t want him to get in trouble. “It’s alright Ray, please don’t freak out,” Taemin tried to calm the other down. “Sorry, I have to go, my work is waiting. Please, have a good night!” Ray said and left the room in a hurry. Just a few moments later he got a call from V. Who asked Taemin if he got a present today. “How did you know? I got a bouquet with fresh roses,” Taemin answered. V seemed a little startled, asked if Taemin could tell him something about the place he was staying and made a random comment about not drinking something you got from a stranger. “V, are you trying to tell me something?” Taemin asked furrowing his brows. “Just watch out for yourself and please tell us if something seems wrong or if you think something is going to happen, okay?” V said and Taemin assured him, that he would tell them. Then V heard something and said he had to end the call.

 

After this call Taemin was almost sure that V knew where Taemin was at. “What the fuck is going on?” Taemin asked and threw himself on the bed. He opened his notebook to check if his play-wall was already encountered. “Oh, they were really fast man!” Taemin exclaimed and logged into the messenger.

 

707: Someone is messing with us!

 

Jaehee: What’s wrong Luciel?

 

707: I tried to make my way to the base of the hacker… suddenly a (super cute!) cat face was on my screen…

 

707: and it said, ‘BREAK TIME’ and a countdown popped out, which was counting down from 20 minutes aargh

 

707: T_T it said underneath: ‘you have to rest for 20 minutes now, take a nap, get something to eat, wash up, just do whatever but don’t dare to touch your keyboard – your opponent will get this message too, so don’t worry’

 

Jaehee: You opponent? So, this isn’t from the hacker, it’s someone else?

 

707: seems so…

 

Kyoung-soo: Hey hey

 

707: Kyoung-soo! The party coordinator good evening!

 

Jaehee: Oh, good evening Kyoung-soo.

 

Kyoung-soo: So, what happened then Seven?

 

Jaehee: Right, what did you do?

 

707: I called Madame Vanderwood and asked her to come over, she’s on her way now… the 20 minutes aren’t over yet…

 

Kyoung-soo: Madame Vanderwood??

 

707: uhh… she’s my maid or something like that :D She could get me some food and clean my place!

 

Jaehee: …;;

 

Kyoung-soo: oh…kay? Well, you could take a nap if the times not up yet?

 

707: Noo;; What if it was a trick from the hacker? Wait… there is another message now

 

Taemin tried to contain his laughter. Even if Seven wasn’t taking a nap or something, he took a break anyway, because the wall wouldn’t let him do anything else. Hopefully Ray was taking a break sometime soon too.

 

707: It said next up will come a quiz, I should prepare my brain by taking a short nap!

 

707: I forgot to mention, the message was in different languages…

 

Jaehee: Should we be concerned? Or is someone helping us by any chance?

 

Kyoung-soo: It doesn’t seem too malicious?

 

707: I get back to you later, Vanderwood will be here any minute and the quiz starts within 10 minutes…  T_T

 

-707 left the conversation-

 

Jaehee asked if Taemin was alright and said she had to make a report to Mr. Han, so she left too. Taemin was monitoring the chatroom in case Seven or Ray will come in again.

 

Seven opened the door for Vanderwood. “Why are you calling me to your house this late?!” Vanderwood scolded Seven and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Take a look at this, please…” Seven said tiered. Vanderwood sat beside Seven and looked at the screens, where he saw a countdown and the message. “I tried to hack into the base of the intruder on the R.F.A. messenger server. Then this popped up,” Seven explained, while opening the log. “Well, I just called you to show you the coding behind this,” The redhead said and showed Vanderwood the log. “Taemin…?” Vanderwood asked surprised and rose his eyebrows. “You think this too, right? The coding style is somewhat different, but the base elements are the same as him. My question regarding this is, how did he even find the server and why is he doing this?” Seven looked at Vanderwood, who was confused as well. "The R.F.A. server isn’t a server you come across when hacking through the web. You have to explicitly search for it. As the message implies he knows that I am battling with someone else. Do you think he is with the other hacker?” Seven asked. It was a possibility, however Vanderwood wasn’t sure why he would interfere like this if he was with the opponent.

 

“It could be the case, that he’s with the other hacker, nonetheless he isn’t helping him, and he isn’t helping you. Do you know what the other hacker wants from you?” Vanderwood asked curious. Seven stared at the countdown, which was now at 4 minutes left. “The only thing they could want is information, anything else would make no sense,” Seven said and waited for the countdown. As soon as there were only 2 minutes left a new message popped up: ‘If you were stubborn and didn’t take a nap, get ready! Incoming Quiz~’ “I’m honestly a little curious about the quiz,” Seven chuckled and opened a fresh can of Dr. Pepper. As the countdown hit zero a song was played, and the screen switched to a quiz engine.

 

‘Good evening sirs, I hope your meal, shower or nap was refreshing and your brains are ready, because whoever will answer all questions first, will get an advantage in time!’

 

Seven clicked and a new text line was shown.

 

‘Ahh, I know what you are thinking right now! Is someone messing with me? Is it a trick from my opponent? Well… YES someone is messing with you and NO it’s not a trick from your opponent.’

 

‘You see I was stuck somewhere all day long without anything interesting to do, then I came across your heating hacking battle…’

 

‘And I decided to mess with you :D boredom isn’t something to underestimate my friends!’

 

‘Let the games begin~’

 

“He was stuck? But still had the time and courage to make a game... so, it’s not that bad, right?” Vanderwood asked a little concerned. Seven clicked again and the first question showed up. “Question 1 of 500?! Whatever those questions are about, he really had too much time on his hands,” Seven exclaimed reading the first question, which was about the different programming languages. There was a warning message on the right side of the screen: ‘Oh, almost forgot! If you answer a question wrong, you have to start all over again :3’ “Say what?!” Seven was truly amazed and irritated at the same time. He already answered about 130 questions, which were about so many different themes and sometimes in foreign languages. They also dealt mostly with facts about programming and data science, facts from the hacker world etc. However, after around 200 questions an odd question appeared.

 

‘When was the date, the life of Taemin Yang was destroyed?’

 

The side information regarding this question was: ‘Oh, you don’t know who that is? Unfortunately, you will find nothing about him either. He is a non-existing nobody in the whole wide world~’

 

Seven glanced at Vanderwood, who pointed at a date. It was the date, they were assigned to the mission and Vanderwood had to make his job for his true agency. The answer was correct, and they could proceed. Every now and then there were questions regarding Taemin, which could just be answered by guessing or asking Vanderwood. “He did this, because he thought you two didn’t know him. Then both of you wouldn’t have been able to answer them and had to start from the beginning,” Vanderwood stated.

 

Taemin frowned as he monitored the progress of the quiz on both sides. 707 did answer all questions regarding him correct at first try. That seemed not quite right. He shouldn’t be able to answer them. And guessing correctly all the time wasn’t the answer either, because Taemin didn’t give them two or four options to choose from, no, he choose ten options for each question. So, he decided to interfere on Seven’s side. He made a screen banner, which should pop up any moment on Seven’s screen.

 

‘I DON’T LIKE CHEATERS~ BACK TO QUESTION NUMBER ONE!’

 

Seven’s quiz reloaded, and he was really back to question one. Where a new side note was at:

 

‘I don’t know HOW you answered those questions, but just in case you have SOMEBODY in your contact list, who knows Mr. Yang, I removed all the questions regarding him and reset the quiz of your opponent too, so you start over at the same time. May the better win~’

 

“He writes as if it’s not him, well normally I wouldn’t know him…,” Seven said and groaned, because he had to do all the questions again. Suddenly Seven’s phone rang, someone logged into the R.F.A. messenger. “Who is online?” Seven asked, while answering all those questions again. Vanderwood opened the app on Seven’s phone and felt his heart skip a beat. “Kyoung-soo…,” He said after a moment, because he felt shocked. “Never heard you talk about a person with this name…” Vanderwood added. Seven didn’t avert his eyes from the screen. “Please enter the chat room, he’s the one who came into our messenger some days ago. The hacker I’m against brought him in and I’m not able to track the location,” Seven said still concentrating on the screen. Vanderwood took a deep breath and entered the chatroom. “What should I write?” He asked a little lost.

 

Kyoung-soo: If this isn’t 707 our defender of justice! Did you make it through the quiz you mentioned before?

 

...

 

…

 

Kyoung-soo: Seven are you there?

 

707: Sorry, still doing the quiz. How about you, everything alright?

 

Kyoung-soo: Ya, everything’s good… it’s just… I don’t have anything to do where I’m at and I already played some rounds in LOLOL with Yoosung, but he was complaining that it was boring with me, because my chars are this high level already, so he would have nothing to do…

 

707: I couldn’t track your location when you came here! Where are you staying, can’t you tell me?

 

Kyoung-soo: I don’t know where I am, even if I would, I can’t tell you.

 

Vanderwood frowned as he read that. “He said he doesn’t know where he is and that he can’t tell even if he knew,” He said to Seven, who stopped answering the quiz questions. “Do you think he is held hostage from the hacker?” Seven asked and snatched the phone from Vanderwood. He said his goodbyes to Taemin and called V. But V didn’t answer and Seven sighed frustrated. “This is so annoying!” He breathed out and answered the questions again. Vanderwood wasn’t sure if that Kyoung-soo was Taemin, but the possibility was there. However, he didn’t know if it was wise to tell Seven about it, when he wasn’t even sure that it was truly him. So, he decided against telling his partner agent.


	5. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting the saviour leads Taemin to do something to get Ray and himself out.

Taemin sighed and decided to go to sleep. The next day wasn’t much exciting either, V called him during the day, asking him again those random questions, if he was visited regularly and if he was alone etc. Did V maybe know that he was staying here? Was he here too? Nonetheless, V still didn’t know who Taemin was. The whole day consisted of chatting and calling with the R.F.A. and Ray, who told him to be excited for the evening, because he wanted to show him something. As the sun set, Taemin waited on his bed for Ray to come. Even if he was waiting for Ray, he still flinched as someone knocked at the door. “Yes?” Taemin asked and Ray came in with a smile. “I’m sorry that I’m a little late, but I had to finish the task before coming here,” Ray said and took Taemin’s hand. “Let’s go~ Do you know where we are going?” Ray asked, while dragging Taemin with him. “Uh, you told something about a garden…,” Taemin said and Ray nodded.

After they passed all the stairs and walked through a big glass door they entered the big flower garden, which was even more beautiful when you were standing in it. “Wow, it’s so beautiful…,” Taemin said in admiration, looking at the different flowers. “I’m glad you like it and I’m sorry, that I can’t visit you more often and you have to stay in your room and the floor all day…, but my savior wants to meet you tomorrow and as soon as you met with her, you should be allowed to walk through the place freely,” Ray said with a big smile. Taemin was a little nervous thinking about meeting the so called ‘savior’. “She won’t hurt me in anyway?” Taemin asked a little afraid. Ray widened his eyes in disbelieve. “No! The savior is a very nice person, she would never hurt you. She likes you!” The white-haired young man exclaimed. Then he showed Taemin different flowers and told him a little about each of them. Then Ray said it was time to go back. “Can’t we just walk some more?” Taemin asked, because he didn’t want to go back just yet. “I would love to talk with you some more and walk through the garden, however I have to continue my tasks…,” Ray sighed sadly, and they returned into the building.

Taemin wasn’t sure what he should think about meeting the ‘savior’. From what he got to see in here, this whole place seemed to be a hideout from a religious cult or something. Definitely nothing he would like to join. “Should I send Seven the coordinates of this place? Just in case something will happen?” Taemin murmured to himself and made a file on his notebook. This encrypted file will be sent to Seven if Taemin didn’t postpone it in the next 72 hours. In the afternoon Ray came to his room again, putting a blind fold on him again. “I’m sorry, but it is a secret place, everything will be alright,” Ray tried to calm the situation. Taemin was extremely calm in all of this, because he had nothing to lose except his life, which wasn’t really worth mentioning. Besides he knew some martial arts and other fighting techniques, so it shouldn’t be a problem for him to defend himself. After a long walk through many hallways they finally arrived their destination and Ray removed the blind fold.

Taemin’s eyes needed a short while to adjust to the light, as his sight was focused again, his eyes widened in shock. In front of him stood a small blonde-haired woman, she was wearing a mask, which didn’t conceal her true identity at all, at least if you know her. Taemin opened his mouth to say something, but the woman rose her finger to her lips to show him, that he shouldn’t say anything. Taemin was baffled and shook his head. “Good afternoon Taemin, it’s so nice to finally see you again,” Rika said with a smile, however her eyes were as dark as ever. Taemin felt a shiver of disgust and fear running through his body. “What is going on?” Taemin asked confused. Rika approached him and stroked Taemin’s cheek with her fingertips. “It was so hard to track you down. You just disappeared without a word! We were really lucky that Ray found you sitting in this café some days ago,” She said and laid her hand on Taemin’s arm. After being alone for so long he hated it even more, when someone was touching him and if it was this person in front of him, it was even more terrible.

“What do you want from me, _Rika_?” Taemin growled and glared at Rika. Ray made a surprised sound as he heard Taemin saying that name. “I sensed your struggle, your loneliness and pain when we first met. You were also so beautiful and didn’t deserved the cruelty of the world. As soon as I met you, I wanted you to come with me to our paradise,” Rika said and Taemin thought she was out of her mind. He somewhat knew that this woman was evil and dangerous from the first time he saw her, however he never guessed that it would be that bad. Taemin didn’t know what to say in this moment, he was too shocked. “I hope you like your room? Ray will tell you some more about our purpose and the rules in this place. We will meet again in some days, to hold your ceremony to become a full member of the Mint Eye dear Taemin,” Rika said, stroking over Taemin’s crimson hair and then she left. Taemin just stared after her in disbelieve.

“Are you okay?” Ray asked concerned, because Taemin wasn’t saying anything and looked even paler, as he already was. The crimson-haired young man shook his head. “No, I am definitely not okay!” He exclaimed and looked Ray dead in the eye. “I want to go back to my room, please. I don’t feel good,” Taemin breathed out. He felt dizzy and nauseous. Ray nodded, put back the blindfold, took Taemin’s hand and lead him back into the room. “Do you need something?” Ray asked, but Taemin ignored him. “Just leave me alone, okay?” Taemin said and laid down on the bed, thoughts racing through his mind. “Alright, good night,” Ray said a little sad and left the room. Taemin was staring blankly into the nothing. He couldn’t comprehend what exactly was going on. Did this insane woman plan to kidnap him from the start? “She’s fucking crazy. Is V still together with her?” Taemin asked himself. Then his phone rang, Ray was calling him.

“What do you want?” Taemin hissed angry. _“I’m sorry if the meeting was uncomfortable for you, please don’t be mad at me,”_ Ray whined. Taemin closed his eyes and sighed. This boy was about the same age as Taemin, but he acted as if he was at least a few years younger. Taemin assumed that the cause was some sort of psychological trauma. He also guessed that Rika did play a big role in this too, because Ray mentioned here and there that the savior would get mad or punish him, if he didn’t finish a task or made mistakes. This fucking bitch. “Ray, I’m not mad at you. I just need a moment to collect my thoughts. If… if I ask you something, would you answer me truthfully?” Taemin asked. _“What do you want to know?”_ The other one asked curious. Taemin thought about how to frame what he wanted to say and ask. “Rika said, that she wanted to make me one of you. What exactly does that mean?” Ray thought for a while before answering, _“You will get the elixir tomorrow, it will help you to be happy and open your way to our paradise. I always feel like walking on clouds, when I took the elixir! I give it to you myself, the savior said that I would be useful, if I help you to come to the paradise!”_

Taemin felt an ache in his chest. Ray didn’t seem like a bad person, he was just dragged into this. Probably been brainwashed. It was easy to destroy a mentally unstable person just to shape them into something else. Taemin didn’t know what he should say, he felt so sorry for this guy. He would try to find out what exactly they wanted him to do, then he would find a way to escape this hell and will try to rescue this poor boy too. “Thank you for answering Ray. I look forward to see you again tomorrow,” Taemin said with a sad smile and Ray wished him a good night before hanging up. V said to contact him, if he thought something was going to happen. Taemin thought about if telling him was a good idea and decided to just give him a hint. So, he called V.

_“Kyoung-soo? Is everything alright?”_ V asked as soon as he picked up. “For now, however… I think the persons here at the place I’m staying at, planned something,” Taemin said in a low voice. He heard V mumbling to himself, eventually he answered, _“Thank you for letting me know. I will do anything to protect you. I’m sorry if you feel uncomfortable right now but be assured that I and the R.F.A. are there for you.”_ Taemin couldn’t contain his smile and closed his eyes. “Thank you, V, I trust you in this situation,” He said, and V thanked him. They ended the call and Taemin thought about what to do now. He looked into the R.F.A. messenger, where he already got mails from potential party guests. “Everything is going straight to hell and they want to hold a party? I think there is some reason behind this, but I don’t get it right now,” Taemin said to himself, while reading the mails and thinking about what he should answer. As already known, Taemin wasn’t good with other people, so this was a big challenge for him.

 

Of course, he couldn’t sleep at all, thinking about what he encountered today and what was supposed to happen the day after. That’s why Taemin decided to hack into the ‘Mint-Eye’ servers again, to dig even deeper. Which surprisingly gave a better result this time. However, the information he got out of it were at least as shocking as what happened today. “Why are there such insane people everywhere?!” He exclaimed indignant. Ray’s real name was Saeran and he was apparently Seven’s twin brother. Seven’s real name, besides his baptismal name Luciel, was Saeyoung. Seven and Saeran got out of their home, V and Rika took care of them. Then somehow Seven ended up studying abroad and becoming an informant for an intelligence agency. Saeran stayed with Rika and V. Seven seemed not to know anything about what is up with his brother. “But what in the world happened then?!” Taemin thought in horror and knew that he wouldn’t get any sleep this night.

Taemin did doze of now and then but didn’t really sleep at all. So, he felt lightheaded and was in a bad mood the next day. Being locked up in here didn’t help him at all. Taemin logged into the messenger, to see what was going on with the rest of the members. As it seemed Jumin had the idea of creating an intelligence unit within the C&R to help tracking down the hacker and he made Jaehee in charge of it. “That poor woman…,” Taemin sighed and encouraged her. He knew how it was, to get all kinds of tasks you weren’t even responsible for. Taemin chatted also some time with Zen and Yoosung. Zen wasn’t a bad guy, but Taemin couldn’t cope with his obsession about his own appearance. Of course, he was pretty and all, but did he have to mention that every fucking time? Taemin didn’t want to be rude and didn’t say anything about it. As for Yoosung he was just a cute, innocent boy. For real though, Taemin always had the urge to tease him and the blonde was flustered or embarrassed every time. And then there was Jumin Han, also called ‘CEO-in-line’ or ‘Mr. Trust-fund-kid’, he liked cats, which was a huge bonus in Taemin’s books. Taemin did get along with him pretty well, maybe because he was similar to him in regard of being more rational than emotional.

Ray came into the messenger quite early, just to express his excitement for Taemin joining them this evening by taking that elixir thing. Where Taemin was already investigating on, what exactly that was. Taemin tried to be casual about the joining topic, he didn’t say that he would join, and he didn’t say that he wouldn’t join them, so that Ray stayed calm. While looking through the ton of files Taemin extracted throughout the night, he finally found something about the elixir. It was an early description of the ingredients and how they would be mixed together. Taemin thought he would die just from reading what they had on the ingredients list. “People actually taking this? Do they still live?” He asked incredulous. “Well, IF they are still alive they will have some damages to their organs for sure,” He thought and shook his head. “Wait, didn’t Ray say that he takes this regularly?! Oh my god…” Taemin gasped and tried to come up with a solution to rescue that poor boy.

“No wonder he always complaining about several pains and what not,” Taemin said to himself, furrowing his brows. He dug up more information about that ‘elixir’, which was literally a self-made drug out of horrible ingredients. It would affect mostly the cognitive abilities, which can also cause severe brain damage aside from other possible organ damages. The more Taemin read about that, the more disgusted he was with this woman called Rika. “She definitely needs a place in the psychiatric ward, where she never ever should get out for the rest of her life. I’m not sure what caused her to be like this, but if she already gone _this_ far, I don’t think it will be easy to cure whatever the problem is,” Taemin thought. He was mad at that woman, but also felt sorry for her. Taemin thought about his life when he was little. He was an experiment and was treated as such. He was mentally and sometimes even physically tortured in his past, nevertheless he didn’t turn out as some psycho, who would terrorize and torture other people. He turned out as the exact opposite, he avoided other people.

 

The evening came sooner than expected, Ray lead Taemin into his workplace. “That’s my base of operation,” Ray said smiling. “That’s where I work all day long…,” He added. Taemin looked around the room. It was definitely the base from a hacker and not some ‘game developer’. Then Taemin turned back his attention to Ray. He looked a little dazed, his eyes half lidded. “Could you close your eyes, Taemin?” He asked with a low voice and Taemin closed his eyes. Taemin heard Ray rummaging somewhere, then he felt him approaching. “You can open them now,” He breathed out and Taemin opened his emerald green eyes again. “Isn’t it beautiful? I made it just for you,” Ray said, smiling and holding a heart-shaped flacon in his hands. Taemin looked at the flacon then into Rays eyes. “Do I really have to take this?” He asked pretending to be scared. He tried to look pleading and added, “I don’t want to drink this…” Ray was a little flustered and looked into Taemin’s eyes. “It will help you to forget your pain and suffering,” Ray tried to convince Taemin.

“I’m not in pain and I am also not suffering. As long as you are here with me, I don’t have to suffer from anything,” Taemin said, still in a pleading tone. Ray furrowed his brows and seemed to think about what to do. Suddenly someone knocked at the door. He looked surprised and a little angered. “What is it?” Ray asked irritated and opened the door. A person in one of those robes rushed into the room and shattered the flacon. “You have to get out of here…!” The person yelled and Taemin was frozen for a moment. “V?” He asked confused. V rose his eyes and was startled. “You…,” He began to say, as Ray shouted, “Intruder! We have an intruder!” Taemin’s heart raced in his chest, he tried to come up with something fast. The first thing he did was closing the door and laying a hand over Ray’s mouth. “Shh, please Ray, calm down,” He cooed at the white-haired young man. Ray was too surprised to do anything. V still looked shocked, as he examined Taemin with his eyes again.

“Taemin?” V asked genuinely confused. Taemin pressed his jaws together and nodded, while he slowly released Ray out of his grip. “You are Kyoung-soo from the messenger?” V asked with wide eyes. “Yes, I am ‘Kyoung-soo’. I’m sorry that I didn’t say anything before. I-I thought you wouldn’t remember me even if I did…,” Taemin said averting his eyes. Ray furrowed his eyebrows, as he followed the conversation. “You know that traitor?!” Ray asked scandalized. Taemin blinked a few times and then asked, “Traitor?” V looked at Ray with sad eyes. “Saeran, what happened?” V then asked concerned. “What did she do to you?” He added. Ray got extremely angry as V said his real name. “Don’t you dare use that name! I’m not Saeran right now! Even if he’s making a rampage inside my head, because of you!” Ray yelled and held his head. But before anyone could say anything more people stormed the room. “Taemin, we have to get out of here!” V shouted, but Taemin shook his head. “V, please run. I can help myself. I… call you later, just go now!” Taemin said, while staring into V’s mint eyes. V wasn’t fond of this outcome, but regarding the situation he hurried out the room.

Ray collapsed to his knees and held his head, groaning in pain. “Hey, are you okay? What’s wrong?” Taemin asked, steading Ray at his shoulders. “My… head hurts so much… He wants to take over me, what should I do…,” Ray murmured, hissing and groaning. The other ‘believers’ chased after V, so Taemin took Ray on his arms and returned to his room. Taemin took off Ray’s jacket and jabot, laying him down on Taemin’s bed. Then he organized a wet towel to lay it down on Ray’s forehead. “Don’t… ugh…,” Ray groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. He struggled like this for a while, then he fell asleep or did he fell unconscious? Whatever it was, his pulse seemed normal, as did his breathing, so Taemin let him stay like this. Nonetheless, he was worried, and he didn’t know what was going on here. He also didn’t know if V was able to escape safely. As his phone rang and he saw V’s name he sighed a little relieved.

“V? Are you okay?” Taemin asked worried. V clearly was out of breath, he likely ran for his life. _“Ahh, yes I think they lost track of me…,”_ He gasped. _“I’m so sorry you were dragged into this…,”_ He said after catching his breath. “Well, Rika planned to get me here since she first saw me. That’s what she told me herself,” Taemin answered, not letting Ray out of his sight. _“You… you met her?”_ V asked afraid. “Yes, she said that she wanted me to join her paradise from the first time she met me and after I disappeared, she made that boy track me down,” Taemin said in a low voice. “ _Since the first time… You mean at my exhibition?”_ V asked confused. Taemin confirmed that suspicion. _“Taemin…, please don’t tell the other members anything. Not about the boy and not about Rika, please…,”_ V plead him. “Why are Saeran and Seven battling each other? What does the ‘Mint Eye’ want from the R.F.A.?” Taemin asked, ignoring V’s pleading. _“I think she wants the other members to join her cult too. That must not happen,”_ V said, his voice slightly trembling.

Suddenly a voice behind Taemin said, “What do you think you’re doing?” Then his phone was snatched away. “You will not bother us any further, traitor,” Ray said and ended the call. Then he turned back his attention to Taemin. The crimson-haired young man didn’t have a good feeling. “Hahaha, he truly had the nerves to show his stupid face at this place!” Ray laughed a little mad. Of course, Taemin noticed the drastic change in behavior. “Ray?” He asked wary. “Tsk, Ray that stupid weakling. I wouldn’t have let that traitor get out of here. He couldn’t even make you take the elixir,” The white-haired young man said, while making a disgusted face. “Saeran?” Taemin tried again. The other young man raised an eyebrow. “Did I give you any permission to say something or even call me by my name?” Saeran asked, staring into Taemin’s eyes. Taemin smirked a little wicked. “Well, who said that I need any permission from you?” He retaliated.

Saeran smiled devilish. Taemin sighed a little stressed out. “Whatever your problem with whomever is, I don’t have to do anything with that. However, I was lead here because of you. So, could you tell me first, what am I supposed to do here and second, why are you attacking the R.F.A.?” Taemin asked composed. “You came here by yourself without any protest, so don’t you dare blame me for that! And why should I tell you anything? Are you stupid or what?!” Saeran growled angered. Taemin had a lack of sleep and his body was overflowing with adrenaline and stress, which lead to him laughing insanely as he heard Saeran’s response. “Fine. If you won’t talk to me, I’m outta here. As you said, I came here by myself, so I’m seeing myself out. And even if I would try to be stupid, that’s unfortunately not possible for my brain,” Taemin snarled cocky. At that response Saeran looked even more angry, clenching his jaws together. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!” He yelled at Taemin with a scowl on his face.

“Thank you for your concern. But I think I am the one with the least wrong things compared to other persons in this building,” Taemin hissed and was packing his things as he spoke. Suddenly Saeran grabbed his wrists roughly, dragging him from his bags. “What do you think you’re doing?! You won’t go anywhere,” The white-haired young man said, tightening his grip around Taemin’s wrists. Taemin sighed annoyed and thought about what he should do. He decided to ask Saeran again, “What do you want from the R.F.A.? What am I supposed to do here?” He saw that Saeran was thinking. “The savior wants the R.F.A. members to join the Mint Eye, so they would become ‘happy’. And you, tsk, for me you were just a tool, someone who would distract the R.F.A. and made that stupid party happen. However, the savior seemed to have a liking for you, she was so persistent about finding you. You piss me off so much,” Saeran hissed through his teeth.

Taemin shook his head. “Oh, I piss YOU off? Well, EVERYONE here pisses me off! How can there be a place with so many insane people?!” Taemin yelled. He rarely used yelling or shouting, but for today he reached his limit in being patient. “I don’t fucking know what went wrong in your life, even in this angry state, which seems a little more independent, you’re still devoting yourself to this disgusting piece of a living being. I can’t understand that. Everything that I sense from this woman is malicious intent and you’re doing everything for her. WHY?” Taemin couldn’t comprehend that behavior of this boy towards Rika. “Do you have a death wish or something, to call our savior like this?!” Saeran yelled back. Taemin shook his head in disbelieve again. Taemin took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “He was drugged and brainwashed, he has to be detoxed, maybe he will come to his senses then,” Taemin thought and looked Saeran dead in the eyes. “I’m sorry Ray, Saeran, whatever I should call you. What I’m going to do, is for you…,” Taemin whispered, grabbed Saeran at his nape, pulling him down and kicking his knee in his stomach, at an angle, which should make him vomit.

Taemin pulled him into the bathroom, where he actually threw up plenty of this venomous drug. He lowered himself beside Saeran and steadied him. “I am sorry, and I am not sorry. I have to do this, so you would come to your senses, Saeran. Don’t be too mad at me okay? This so called ‘elixir’ is highly venomous for humans and if you take it on a regular basis even little amounts can do a lot of damage to your brain and other organs,” Taemin explained to the other young man. “I know that you maybe got somewhat addicted, because of the short amount of time, which it makes you feel as if you are free from your problems or whatever, but trust me that’s definitely not worth it,” He continued to speak. Saeran couldn’t answer, because his body finally started to work against those chemicals. Taemin used this time to mix a provisional antidote, which should wash out more of the chemicals in his body. Which Saeran could drink, when he wasn’t throwing up anymore.

After a while Saeran and his body calmed down. Taemin helped him washing his face and placing him into the bed again. Saeran was switching between his personalities, while he laid dazed in the bed. He was arguing with himself. Taemin eventually gave him the antidote mix, which would be painful, because his body were going to cleanse itself from everything that shouldn’t be there. “Hey, can you hear me?” Taemin asked and the other young man glanced at him. “I hope that you will understand when you wake up. I have to make a plan with V and Seven. Then we must get out of here, together. I won’t leave you with this crazy person,” Taemin explained and Saeran nodded. Taemin smiled relieved and stroked through the white hair. “Good boy,” He said playfully and got an angry glare from Saeran. Taemin chuckled and decided to call V. It would be a battle itself to get through V’s stubbornness.

“V, we have to get out of here. I mean Saeran and me. Therefore, I’d like to make a plan including you and Seven. I know that’s not what you want, because of Seven finding out about Saeran, but there’s no other way,” Taemin said without stopping, so V couldn’t interfere beforehand and added right after, “And I already planned something for this place and Rika too. Whatever you had in mind, she needs a psychiatrist. Even if she would get a trial at court, she wouldn’t go into prison, because she is mentally unstable, which means she would end up in a psychiatric ward either way. I planned everything through, if you’re interested I can send you everything via e-mail.” Taemin didn’t hear anything for a while, then V answered, _“Why are you doing this? You don’t have anything to do with all of this. I am so sorry that you ended up in this. But I can’t have Luciel know about this.”_

Taemin rolled his eyes and groaned. “Haaah… You know V, you can’t hide this forever. First, because it would destroy you from inside and second, because someday it would come to light anyway. I know that Seven is an informant at a secret agency and I know very well how it works in an agency, because I was born into one. I am currently on the run, because the team I was in had a spy, I think I don’t need to tell any further. However, what I wanted to say is, that you’re not supposed to have any boundaries and family whatsoever, but I think he should know and I think his brother needs him very much too,” Taemin said vigorous. “First priority is getting Saeran and me out of here, we don’t have to tell Seven who the second person is, we can talk about that, as soon as we are out of this freaking place. Does sound that okay to you?” Taemin asked a little vexed. V’s voice was trembling as he answered, _“Okay… please send me the files you made.”_ Then he hung up.

Taemin logged into the R.F.A. messenger, where everything was going up and down. “Taemin is your real name, right?” A fainted voice asked and Taemin looked to the bed. “Yes, that’s right,” He answered with a nod. “I have to continue my task, else the savior will come look for me,” Saeran said weakly. Taemin sighed and thought about it. “I have to discuss some things first, however, I will help you with that,” Taemin said reassuring. Then he returned to the messenger.

707: I call you in a sec.

Just a few moments later his phone rang. “Hello,” Taemin answered the call. _“V called me and forwarded me some files, I… I don’t know what is going on,”_ Seven said clearly confused. “Seven, I know this… everything is just a big chaos. I am truly sorry for causing such a commotion. First, this place isn’t safe. The hacker and I have to get out of here. The hacker isn’t a bad person, he was used and exploited here,” Taemin explained as calm as possible. “And second, Rika is alive, and she made this place, as you could already read in the files..., now we need your help to get out of here. The hacker must pretend to still battle you, so he won’t rise any suspicion. Meanwhile I would like you to look for a safe place we can run and hide to at first,” He continued. Thankfully Seven was a secret agent and had the ability to stay relatively calm and professional even in chaotic situations. _“I look into it and let you know, and I will come to the hideout myself and I will help you to get out of there,”_ Seven answered. “Thank you, see you later,” Taemin said and they ended the call.

Taemin connected his notebook with the computer system from Saeran and continued to hack the R.F.A. server, however he didn’t really hack through it, he just coded around it, if that makes any sense. If someone would look at the logs, it would seem as he tried to hack into it, but got a counter attack, but it was all just one person. The next two days nothing grave happened and Saeran seemed to get more mobile again. Taemin had profound conversations with Saeran, who had some meltdowns here and there, however he seemed to have calmed down and understood what went wrong in his life so far. “I… don’t know what to say. Thank you so much, for being by my side Taemin,” Saeran said, while looking out the window. “I’m a little excited to go out there again, but I’m also afraid…,” He admitted. Taemin looked up from his notebook, he hadn’t drained himself that much for a long time. He hadn’t slept much, food, uh what was that again? And it was visible on him, that he didn’t cared much about himself lately. “I am sorry, that I was such a burden to you,” Saeran said and took the notebook out of Taemin’s hands, brushing his fingertips over the back of Taemin’s hands.

 

Taemin was dead tiered, but as soon as his phone got off, he was wide awake. “Yes?!” He exclaimed as he answered the phone. “I’ll be there in two hours, the building has underground prison cells, be there in time,” Seven explained. “Understood,” Taemin answered and they ended the call. “Do you know where the prison cells are?” Taemin asked Saeran. “Yes, I hope we can get there without any trouble. I don’t know what you did the last couple of days, but… Rika didn’t look for me once in person and believed me, when I told her that you drank the elixir, as soon as it was delivered,” Saeran whispered in awe. Taemin smiled at the other young man. “Don’t worry about that, just take us down there safe,” He said and yawned. Taemin began to pack up his things. “Do you think you can handle meeting your brother?” He asked Saeran, while stuffing his things into the bags. Saeran looked a little nervous. “He did what he did thinking that I’m fine and that he hadn’t another choice, so it’s alright. However, I think he will get mad at V,” Saeran answered in a low voice. He did speak quietly since he was changing into a ‘normal’ person. Nevertheless, he would need to see a psychiatrist as well, that he admitted personally. Taemin thought about getting some sessions himself, after everything was settled, but he wasn’t sure just yet.

They got to the prison cells without any trouble, but as soon as they were there, Rika came looking for them. “You two, what do you think you are doing down here?” She asked knowingly. “Ray? You’re going to betray and abandon me? Is that how you thank me for everything I did for you?” She said, her eyes tearing up. That’s when Taemin got angry again. “Rika! The only thing you did, was tormenting, exploiting and hurting him. You never ever did anything good for or to him, so just leave us the fuck alone!” He growled angrily. “I can’t believe that you would do something like this to me!” She repeated herself with similar lines. She didn’t stop babbling this nonsense, crying and yelling, then she broke down and her yelling was nothing more than screeching and screaming. That’s when someone whispered behind them. “Shh! Don’t make a sound and come this way,” The person said. Saeran and Taemin both wore hoodies from Taemin, to conceal themselves with the hoods.

Finally, they sat in the car and Seven was speeding them away from that scary place. “I found a place, where we can hideout for a while,” Seven said and focused on the street. Saeran had grabbed Taemin’s hand and squeezed it. Because of the hood and the darkness outside Seven didn’t see who he was rescuing and Saeran was extremely nervous. “Everything will be alright,” Taemin whispered and flashed him a reassuring smile. “I’m so happy to have you with me…,” Saeran whispered back. The ride took them two and a half hours, where nobody said anything. As they arrived at the destination, V was waiting for them. “You can go first, I have to talk to V for a moment,” Seven said and got off the car. Taemin grabbed his bags and went inside with Saeran. “I feel dizzy…,” Saeran suddenly said and Taemin placed him on a chair. “It’s okay, relax, okay?” Taemin tried to comfort him a little bit. Then someone bolted into the wooden shack, it was Seven, V probably told him about the second person besides Taemin, he brought here.

“S-Saeran?! Is… is that really you?” He exclaimed and approached the white-haired young man on the chair. Who rose his eyes to look at his brother, then he got out of the chair, however he was still shaky on his legs. Seven hurried to him and took him in a tight embrace. “Oh my god, my god… I… feel so bad. Saeran what happened? What happened?” Seven breathed out, but didn’t let go of Saeran, who clung to his brother too. “I missed you so much Saeyoung… I thought something bad might have happened to you and then I was so mad at you...,” Saeran said with a trembling voice. They both were searching for words and cried. Taemin smiled at the scene and decided to let them have some time for themselves. He had to talk to someone too.

“There’s a big scolding to come, huh?” Taemin asked, while approaching V. V looked at Taemin and had a pained expression. “I should have told him sooner. I should have done something sooner. I’m such a coward…,” V said quietly and averted his eyes to the floor. Taemin leaned against the wall and yawned again. “I’m sorry, didn’t get much sleep in the last couple of days. However, V, I got a glimpse of what your relationship with Rika was through what you told me in the chatrooms and when we called. It was a highly abusive relationship and you both didn’t act like you should have. And hurting someone on purpose is definitely not the right decision,” Taemin said, feeling this anger in his guts again. “I… I know, and I think you won’t like what I have to say, but I’d like to talk with her one last time face to face, to clear things one and for all,” V said and Taemin’s jaw dropped in disbelieve. “You’re kidding me, right?” Taemin asked, pushing away from the wall and positioning himself in front of V. “I won’t let that happen. As long as I live,” He said in a stern voice.

“You already did so much for me and everyone else, just let me do something for everyone too,” V said almost pleading. Taemin straightened his posture and replied, “You can do whatever you want, as long as it doesn’t have Rika in it.” V looked Taemin dead in the eyes and furrowed his brows in a distraught way. Taemin spoke with V a hell lot in the chatrooms about his relationship with Rika and V admitted that his way of having a relationship and his way of loving someone, wasn’t the right way. He said that at first it was something like love, but soon escalated into an obsession on both sides and V thought it would be enough for Rika’s unstable mind, if he was just endlessly loving her. However, it didn’t do the trick and she went overboard. V was mentally unstable himself, indeed in another way as Rika. Also, they both were young and pretty inexperienced regarding serious relationships. And a relationship always contains two people, which are both responsible for their actions and V didn’t know his limit. Taemin talked about that so often with V, however V’s stubborn head won’t let this go. So, here they go again, discussing the same topic.

“Whatever I say, you won’t listen anyway, am I right?” Taemin asked resigned. V looked at him apologetic. “I need to talk with her in person one last time,” V said again and Taemin breathed out heavily. “You can’t expect a normal conversation with that person anymore. She is not right in her mind, that’s like talking to a wall. Well, as it seems I am talking to a wall too,” Taemin said annoyed. “I’m sorry Taemin, I am genuinely grateful for what you did for us and that you are at our side and that you’re trying to comfort even a coward like me…, but I don’t deserve your attention in the first place,” V said, belittling himself again. Taemin genuinely would like to lock V up and do whatever to break that wall of stubbornness away. “I would like for you to not talk to her. However, you are an adult, so I can’t tell you what to do, right? I hope you make the right and best decision. I am dead tired and am going to sleep now,” Taemin sighed defeated and walked into the shack and searched for a place to sleep.


	6. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I hate you,” He breathed out, even if that’s very contradictory to what he really felt.

Saeran and Seven didn’t need much words to understand each other, nevertheless they had a long talk throughout the night, reminiscing about their childhood, of course just the good times and promising each other to go eat ice cream together real soon. Saeran did physically feel much better than before, however he was drugged over a long time, which means his body was still filtering out the bad chemicals. “He made me an antidote and some detoxing liquids, which I should drink the next weeks. Do you know about things like that? I don’t want to burden him anymore, then I already did…,” Saeran asked Seven. “Hmm, I’m no expert in detoxing, but I think I know someone we could ask,” Seven answered, already texting Vanderwood if he could help him with something. Who immediately replied, “And what is there for me to gain?” Seven rolled his eyes and answered, “I will behave better when working, putting more effort into it?” Vanderwood didn’t reply to that and just asked for their location.

Within the night Taemin got up and looked for the others. Seven and Saeran fell asleep on the couch together and V was sitting on an armchair looking out the window. “Hey,” Taemin said in a low voice, as he entered the room, which was next to the one he was sleeping in. V looked up and smiled sadly. “Did you get some sleep?” He asked the younger man. Taemin nodded and sauntered to the window. The night sky was clear, the moon and the stars were shining bright. “Such a beautiful night sky. Seems so peaceful and yet everything is just a hell on earth,” Taemin whispered, V stood beside him. “You know V, as I told you before, just let your past go and look forward. Embrace yourself, love yourself and start anew. You’re talented and you are creative, everything you create has so much emotion within. I am sure you could be a famous painter too, if you just jump over your shadow, break through your stubbornness and just do it,” Taemin said in a low voice, so he wouldn’t wake up the other two.

“You have such big opportunities ahead of you. You don’t have to sacrifice yourself, also Rika won’t stop torturing people even if you go back. Even if she would kill you or whatnot, she wouldn’t stop,” Taemin continued and looked V into the eyes. “Treat yourself better, protect and love yourself, as you do it with everyone else,” He said and smiled. V looked at him amazed, however you could see the struggle in his eyes. “Please don’t go,” Taemin breathed out and just took V into an embrace. Which startled V and he didn’t know what to do. However, it felt nice and warm. “So, that is how it feels like to be embraced by someone…,” V whispered and Taemin hugged him even tighter. “You know V, I don’t know if I will ever get the chance to live a normal life, nonetheless I’m trying, even if I do some reckless things. I… I technically don’t even belong here in this world, I was artificially created and just an experiment and a living tool,” Taemin breathed out. “I’m so sick of running, but if I stop running they will catch me and use me again. There’s no finish line for me in this,” He whispered and let go of V.

“But you don’t have to run away or sacrifice yourself. V, you can do everything you want,” Taemin said persuasive. Taemin let himself slide down the side of the arm chair, to sit on the floor. V looked at him, a little puzzled. “What do you mean?” V asked and leveled down, so he was facing Taemin. The younger one looked V dead into the eyes. Taemin did think a lot about his future and what he should and could do, even if the agency will stop searching for him. If Taemin would come out from hiding, it’s highly likely that he would be discovered by them eventually. “I told you sometime before, I was born into an intelligence agency, however they also were doing experiments on how to create genius child’s. I am a result of one of those experiments. I… wait a second I have the files on my notebook,” Taemin said and stood up, to get his notebook. As he came back he handed it to V, the files already open.

V took the device and skimmed through the documents on the screen. While V was reading the documents Taemin said, “I didn’t have a ‘life’ as such from the beginning. My _life_ was only created for science. I am a living experiment, nothing more.” V put aside the device and approached Taemin, to return the embrace. “I’m so sorry,” He whispered, while he held the younger man. Taemin couldn’t say anything, he felt hopeless once again. If he was true to himself, he envied people like Yoosung or Zen. They could live careless lives; their concerns were so simple. “You encouraged me so much and I know it is really hard for you right now, however there is a chance for you to start over again too. When we settled our current situation, we will definitely find a solution for you too,” V said in his gentle voice and Taemin wanted to believe him, to trust him in this regard. They both sat there for a while, just embracing each other, savoring the warmth of each other. Eventually V said, “You’re so strong and I am sure you will live a ‘true’ life in the future.” Taemin smiled and felt his mind slipping away again, so he fell asleep on V’s shoulder.

 

Taemin woke up midmorning in his bed, feeling a little confused, until his memories of the night came back, and he chuckled. The crimson-haired young man stood up and made his way to the kitchen, to get something to drink. He then went into the living room, where he heard voices. However, as he entered the room and oversaw the persons within, his every motion froze and the glass in his hand fell. The shattering was almost too loud in his ears, where he heard his blood rush. Saeran was the first to look up to him, being concerned at how pale and puzzled Taemin looked. “Are you okay?” Saeran asked, making his way to the crimson-haired young man. That’s when the others turned around too. Taemin could feel his heart pounding hard in his chest, it almost ached at his collar bones. His breathing was faltering, as he locked eyes with the brown-haired male standing with the others.

Vanderwood was extremely shaken too, as he saw Taemin standing there. “T-Taemin?!” He asked puzzled. Seven furrowed his brows and looked back and forth between Vanderwood and the crimson-haired young man he knew as ‘Kyoung-soo’. “What did you just say?” Seven asked curious. Taemin shook his head, he wasn’t ready for this. He crouched down to collect the shattered glass pieces and bolted out the room. Saeran didn’t know what was up, however, he followed Taemin. Vanderwood turned his attention to Seven, who was staring at him, waiting for an explanation. “That person just now, was Taemin… Taemin Yang, the hacker I told you about,” He said still shaky. “What?!” Seven exclaimed unbelievingly. V was just a silent observer until now and asked, “How do you know him?” Vanderwood shook his head and didn’t feel ready either, to face Taemin again, after all he had done to him. “Well… uh… we worked together for two years,” He answered as casual as possible. “That makes sense, why he found the R.F.A. server to install this wall…,” Seven mumbled and turned away to think.

Taemin had thrown the glass into the garbage bin, ran out the house and was leaning against the outer wall now. Saeran was following him and stepped in front of him. “What happened?” The white-haired young man asked. Taemin could still feel his heart hammering against his ribs. “I… I’m not ready for this…,” Taemin stuttered, which made Saeran even more concerned. “For what are you not ready? What are you talking about?” Saeran asked with a frown. “Stark… I… fuck,” Taemin hissed and hid his face behind his hands. “Stark? You mean that Vanderwood person?” Saeran was confused. “He… betrayed me, betrayed the trust I had for him…,” Taemin whispered, feeling the burn of tears in his eyes. Saeran didn’t know what Taemin was talking about exactly, however they seemed to know each other and something severe happened between them. “I don’t know what happened, nevertheless, wouldn’t it be best, if you both speak about it?” Saeran said and Taemin shook his head again. Saeran took Taemin’s hands from his face and held his hands. “You were so strong for me back at the Mint Eye, you didn’t even budge as I completely lost it and even tried to attack you. I’m sure you’re also able to face this person and talk with him,” He said assuring and dragged him back into to shack.

 

Vanderwood sat on the couch, as Saeran came into the room, dragging Taemin with him. Saeran seated Taemin on the arm chair, which stood opposite from the couch. Taemin rose his eyes and met with brown ones. “Long time no see, Stark or Vanderwood was it now?” Taemin said with a stern voice. “I am so sorry Taemin,” Was the only thing, which Vanderwood was able to say. Taemin’s mouth twisted into a grimace like smile. Then he laughed grimly. “Haha, say what? You’re sorry? Really? Don’t fuck with me,” Taemin snarled. He didn’t want to sound this resentful, however he couldn’t do anything about it. Taemin felt so much emotions boiling inside of him. The rage and anger, also the hurt of betrayal and the aching he felt, when Stark was gone, and he missed him so much. “I don’t know what was real for you, nevertheless you ruined my life. I almost got caught by the agency, oh hell I met my ‘brother’ who wanted to drug me and take me back there! Whatever, I don’t know what you thought I should do, after you betrayed me and destroyed everything I had,” Taemin hissed and tried to suppress his tears.

However, his tears wouldn’t cooperate and ran down his cheeks. Eventually he began to sob, letting his emotions flood out. “I felt so miserable all this time, Stark. I was all alone, and I had nowhere to go. Just running and hiding all this time. I am so sick of this,” Taemin said with a trembling voice. He opened his mouth to say something else but decided against it and just shook his head. “Just give me a reason why you did this to me, why you approached me and let all this happen between us. I really wish you would give me a reason, so that I can understand,” Taemin eventually said still crying. Vanderwood never saw Taemin cry before, no matter what has happened, he never cried, and, in this moment, he sat there crying his eyes out, trembling and pleading for an explanation. Vanderwood only wanted to get up and take Taemin in his arms. It ached him to see Taemin like this. “I’m so sorry…,” He repeated what he said before.

“I… Shit!” Vanderwood began and hissed. “I meant everything I said, it was all genuine. However, I will be honest with you. Everything I did and said, were because I truly wanted it, even so I didn’t think about the consequences, which would come along in the end. I had a task, a mission to accomplish and I didn’t think about, what was going to happen,” He said, averting his eyes from Taemin, because he felt ashamed and guilty. Taemin’s sobbing and crying had gone silent some moments ago and as he spoke, his voice sounded icy, “Are you sure about that? I am certainly sure, that you thought of me as a plaything, a toy you could throw away after everything is finished. Maybe, just maybe you got a little too attached to that toy and felt a little guilty, which is why you tried to come up with a plan last minute. This plan resulted in getting me a new identity and saying I should run and live a better life.” As Taemin ended his sentence he laughed bitterly. “Am I right?” He then asked with a slight growl in his voice.

Sadly, Taemin was somewhat right. Vanderwood did think like this in the beginning, but he truly had deeper feelings for Taemin in the end. However, Taemin was right, that he just did something, which was fast to complete and didn’t interfere with his mission and himself too much. Taemin took Vanderwood’s silence as an approval. Taemin had a grim smile on his face as he stood up. “Then, I’m done, I don’t have anything more to say, because it would be pointless anyway. We have to bring down the Mint Eye,” He said and walked out the room again. The persons left behind in the room didn’t say anything either and returned to what they were doing before. Vanderwood stared at the door, through which Taemin had left the room. He didn’t know what to do. Would it be the right thing to just let everything be and move on like this?

 

Taemin shoved back his complicated feelings once more. He knew, that this wasn’t the best solution, however they didn’t have time for something like this right now. There also was still the fact, that V wanted to talk to Rika one last time, to tell her, that she went too far, and that V won’t let her continue like this. “I mean, stubbornness can be a bless and a curse, depending on the situation. However, V’s stubbornness is beyond anything,” Taemin whispered to himself, returning into the living room after a while. He ignored Vanderwood completely and approached V, to talk to him once more about this topic. “If you want to meet her, let me go with you. I can hide myself, if you want her to think, that you came alone,” Taemin suggested to V. V looked a little surprised and seemed to think about that suggestion. After a while he nodded with a sad smile. “You would come either way. If I told you not to, you would be there, right?” V asked and Taemin shrugged. “Who knows,” He said with a slight grin around his mouth.

V glanced at Vanderwood, which looked pretty devastated after the talk he had with Taemin. “You don’t have to pity him, it servers him right,” Taemin hissed in a low voice. “Do you truly think, that he didn’t care for you? Of course, there are always other ways, maybe better ways to do something, however sometimes one makes stupid decisions in the heat of the moment,” V said in his gentle voice and Taemin looked into his eyes. “Someone like him, isn’t allowed to make such grave mistakes. As am I, so, yeah, I shouldn’t blame him too much. I am responsible for my actions, I decided to trust him, so it’s my fault that my life is a mess right now. Of course, he could have acted in another way and the outcome could have been something else, however that is not the case,” Taemin said, gritting his teeth. V laid a hand on Taemin’s arm and squeezed softly, gave him a reassuring smile and let go of him. Taemin didn’t know what to do with his emotions, they were just a mess, same as his life.

The mint-haired photographer did reach Rika and told her, that they would meet at a deserted place in the mountains for a talk. Taemin was nervous, he didn’t trust that woman one bit. The only thing he wished for her was to be taken to a psychic ward and get help. “I really have a bad feeling in my guts. I hope everything will be alright,” Taemin whispered and nervously paced up and down the room. “Taemin? Could I talk with you? Just… a short moment, please?” Someone asked and Taemin saw Vanderwood, as he turned around. “Tch,” Taemin hissed and walked away from the older man. V laid a hand on Taemin’s shoulder and said in a low voice, “You should hear him out.” Taemin gritted his teeth again and felt angry. Then he focused his attention to Vanderwood. “What do you want?” He asked annoyed, as he approached him. “Can we talk alone? Please…,” Vanderwood asked pleadingly.

 

They stood outside the shack, the sun was going down and dusk creeped his way up. “Please, just listen to me for a moment. Then you can say or do whatever you want,” Vanderwood said and Taemin just glared at him. “Then speak,” Taemin demanded and crossed his arms. “You were half right, in the beginning, when I first entered your agency… I thought of you as a pastime, however it changed fairly soon. You were different in many ways and you touched something inside of me, that I thought was long gone,” Vanderwood said, looking into Taemin’s eyes. “If… if we would have met under other, easier circumstances I would have definitely gave my all to you. I… like you so much, even if that’s wrong, I couldn’t do anything about it,” The older man continued, trying to stand firm at Taemin’s destructively glare. Taemin’s eyes changed from a glare to a biding glimpse. “I am truly sorry for everything I did wrong, but please believe me when I say that I meant everything. You are so precious to me, more than anything was and will be, my little kitten,” Vanderwood said, knitting his brows, feeling lost.

Taemin felt a tug at his heart and an ache in his chest, as he heard Vanderwood calling him ‘little kitten’ with such a soft voice, as if he spoke any louder, Taemin would break. Taemin closed his eyes, suppressing the burning tears. “I hate you,” He breathed out, even if that’s very contradictory to what he really felt. Vanderwood smiled, however his eyes looked so sad, as he said, “I know, and I don’t blame you. I expected this to be the case. Nonetheless, I wanted you to know the truth. I even asked a colleague if it were possible to just transfer you to our agency. Well, that wasn’t possible for many reasons and I truly wanted for you, to get out of this business and start anew.” Taemin looked Vanderwood dead in the eyes and he could see, that he was genuine, but that didn’t change the facts. Nevertheless, Taemin felt complicated. “There’s no escape for me, the only thing, which would lessen the chance of me being captured by the agency, would be destroying them. Nonetheless, some of the professors or scientists would still try to find me, even if that’s not as bad as the whole agency searching,” Taemin said with a scowl.

Vanderwood understood what Taemin tried to say. He had to either run and hide for the rest of his life or joined another organization or agency, which could protect him. Even if it’s not what he wanted, Vanderwood said, “We could recruit you for our agency. 707 and I are working together in the same agency,” Vanderwood said, pressing his lips together. Taemin looked dumbfounded for a moment and then laughed disbelievingly. “Right, because they would just let me join. Even if you were to not tell them who I really am, they would find out in no time,” Taemin hissed and turned around to walk away. “I talk with them, the decision will be up to you, if they agree,” Vanderwood said and let Taemin walk away. He lit a cigarette and returned in the shack, as he finished. Vanderwood wanted to talk to 707 about this matter, to find a solution, which would be the most acceptable for everyone.

 

Taemin walked with V to the location in the mountains, where V wanted to meet Rika. It was getting dark outside, however it was full moon and the sky was clear, so the moon luminated the scenery in a mystic light. Taemin stopped next to V and glanced at him. His pale skin and mint hair were glowing under the moonlight. “You’re beautiful in this light,” Slipped from Taemin’s mouth, faster than he could’ve reacted. V turned to Taemin, surprise written all over his face. “I… I’m sorry, just pretend I didn’t say anything…,” Taemin tried, however V gave him an even more beautiful smile. “You’re beautiful too, would you be okay, if I take a picture?” V asked curious and Taemin shrugged his shoulders. “Do whatever you want…,” He whispered, and V already took his camera in his hands. Taemin looked up in the sky, his heart still feeling all that complicated emotions. The rising nervousness wasn’t helping at all. V took a bunch of photos from Taemin, he just looked so mesmerizing.

Then shortly before the meeting was planned, Taemin crouched into a bush, looking through a little opening to observe the situation. V looked surprisingly calm, however Taemin could see his posture stiffen and just a moment later Rika stood in front of him. Taemin couldn’t hear very well, what they were talking about, but it seemed like Rika didn’t want to believe, what V said to her and she started pulling on his clothes, crying and screaming. Taemin felt the uneasy feeling in his guts again. But, the only thing he could do, was watch the situation. His eyes shifted from the whole scene to just Rika, and as soon as he saw a silvery glinting, his heart almost stopped. She came with a weapon, presumably from the glinting it was a knife of some sort. Taemin’s mind was running to find a solution.

V just stood there with a sad and concerned face, as Rika was pulling on his clothes, while screaming at him with tears in her eyes. He felt somewhat helpless, didn’t know what he could do to calm her down. Then suddenly she let go of him and it went silent for a moment, that’s when Taemin stepped out of his hiding spot and stood between Rika and V. “I won’t let you do this, Rika,” Taemin said with a slight growl in his voice. V was confused and looked at Taemin with knitted brows. Rika was furious as she saw Taemin and began screaming at him to. “Why did you leave me and even took Ray with you! Why did you do this to me? And now, now you want to steal V from me too?!” She screeched. She waved around her hands, as one got down and clenched into a fist.

“You won’t hurt me again, you will never betray or steal anything from me again!” She said alarmingly calm and faster as Taemin could have reacted, he felt a burning pain in his abdomen. His eyes widening in shock, when he glanced down and saw the knife handle sticking from his body. He could just stare at the blood pooling around the wound, beginning to feel dizzy from the pain and what he saw. “W-why?” He asked and looked at Rika, who stared at him in shock too. “I-I didn’t mean to… I-I’m sorry!” She exclaimed, and V came into Taemin’s sight. He couldn’t say anything more and felt heavily dizzy, as his knees gave out and he landed on the grass. Taemin groaned in pain, as the moving did shift the knife inside of him. V said something to Rika, which Taemin couldn’t comprehend, his body to overwhelmed at the sensation of the pain. His head feeling extremely dizzy, his stomach churning.

Then he felt a warm presence, someone laid his head and shoulders onto someone’s lap, caressing his hair, murmuring something to him, which he couldn’t understand at first.  “Everything will be alright Taemin, just don’t leave me, stay with me,” It was V, trying to comfort Taemin and distracting him from falling unconscious. “Hurts…,” Taemin gasped with a raspy voice, his breathing becoming ragged. V was muttering reassuring words the whole time, his warm hands stroking through Taemin’s hair and over his face. Taemin didn’t want to endure anymore of this and closed his eyes. Letting his mind slip from his body, shifting into a deep dark pit.

As V saw Taemin’s fading consciousness he began to panic. He already called Seven to come to help them, but the situation seemed grave, also because the wound didn’t stop to bleed. He heard voices in a short distance and shouted, to get their attention. He saw that everyone had come, Seven, Saeran and even that Vanderwood guy. “Oh my god, Taemin!” The brown-haired man gasped and ran over, instantly dropping on his knees beside Taemin. “Fuck, we need to stop this bleeding! ASAP!” Vanderwood almost screamed and looked more closely at the wound. As soon as he got some cloth, which he could use to work with, he removed the knife out of Taemin’s body, which lead to the blood seeming to weep even more than before. Vanderwood cursed under his breath, trying to stop the bleeding as good as he could in this situation.

“Don’t you die now, I swear to god or whomever, that I come and kick your stupid ass if you do this to me!” Vanderwood hissed at Taemin. “We have to get him in a hospital, come one!” Seven said and Vanderwood nodded. “I’ll need your help with carrying him,” Vanderwood said to everyone else around. They did their best to transport Taemin into the car, his head on V’s lap, as Vanderwood still tried to stop the bleeding, however he held a cloth in his hands, which was almost completely drenched in red, smelling nauseatingly of iron. Vanderwood was constantly cursing to himself and telling Taemin, he was not allowed to die yet. “Seven, how long do you think, until we’re there?” V asked Seven, which glanced into the driving mirror, crossing eyes with V. “Just a couple more minutes,” He replied, his attention getting back fully to the street. Saeran sat next to Seven, looking back concerned about Taemin.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is helping each other out and taking care of Taemin

As soon as they got to the hospital, the hospital employees took the crimson-haired hacker into the surgery room. The other four sitting in the waiting lobby in silence. “What the fuck happened, V?!” Seven was the first to break the silence. V didn’t know what he should say and averted his eyes. “I’m not sure what exactly happened. Rika lost control of herself and stabbed the knife into his body, as he tried to calm her down or prevent her from attacking me any further,” V said, trying to choose his words carefully. Vanderwood let out a disapproving sound, before he said, “He took the damn blow for you!” Seven excused himself for a moment to make a call. Saeran didn’t take part in the conversation and just silently hoped for Taemin to be alright. Taemin did so much for him, going out of his way to rescue him from this place and now he even protected V from being hurt. “He cherishes the lives of others far more than his own…,” Saeran whispered more to himself, but the others did hear him too.

“Because he thinks that there is nothing left for him in this world. He doesn’t think his life is worth something, even if that is not true at all,” V said glancing concerned into the direction of the surgery room. “I called Jumin, he arranged a doctor, who will take care of Taemin and Jumin will be here soon too,” Seven said as he came back and seated himself between Vanderwood and Saeran. “Thank you Luciel,” V said in a low voice. However, Seven gave him a sour look. “If you would have told us about that sooner and wouldn’t have been this stubborn, nothing of this had happened!” Seven exclaimed, trying to suppress his anger. V apologized to him, then they all fell silent again. Shortly after, a nurse came their way. “We think he will make it through, however his condition is weak, so it is highly likely that he won’t wake up soon after the surgery,” The woman told them, nodded politely and left them alone again.

 

_Taemin left the darkness and stood in one of the agencies experimental rooms. One of the scientists and professors with him. He was still a little child, maybe four or five. “Now Taemin, please solve this equation for us,” One of the professors said to him and Taemin stared at the white board in front of him. He saw something similar in one of the books they made him read, however, he didn’t know how to solve the one on the board. “Just try it,” The same man as before said. Taemin took a pen and started to scribble some calculating methods on the board. When he finished, and nothing more came to his mind, he laid down the pen and stepped away from the board. “Do you think anything you just wrote is right?” The professor asked as soon as he read what stood on the board. Taemin didn’t know and bit his bottom lip. He stayed silent. “Did you read the book we gave you?” The scientist asked and Taemin nodded. “Then you should know the answer,” The scientist said, his eyes were intimidating for Taemin._

_The little boy tried to recall what he had read the days before. The book they gave him was reading material for university students and not for a four or five-year-old boy, which was why he couldn’t understand everything. “I don’t know,” Taemin said wary, his hands shaking. Suddenly the door opened and a woman with long black curls entered the room. “Hello Taemin,” She smiled at the little boy and patted his head. “Sirs I know the purpose of this, however, I think you should step back a little. He is five, you shouldn’t confront him with something like this,” She said, pointing at the white board and the book on the table. “I am aware, that he is extraordinaire, nonetheless he doesn’t understand what he is doing when calculating these problems. He is too young,” The woman pointed out and took the boy out, away from the men. “Was something I wrote right?” Taemin asked the woman and she sighed. “Everything you wrote was right little one,” She said with a smile, which didn’t reach her eyes._

_In the beginning she thought it would be a very interesting experiment, however she never guessed that the scientists and professors were being too desperate to torture those children like this. Two children were born as test subjects, they won’t get a normal childhood. They were five and didn’t even read one child’s book, the only things they got to read were complicated college or university ones. “It was right, but I didn’t understand all of the book. There were words I didn’t know, and everything was so complicated,” The little boy said, looking sad. “It’s okay Taemin,” The woman said, patting his head again. “But the professors said, that I’m a bad boy, when I don’t understand things and that I need to learn more,” Taemin said, tears in his big green eyes. The woman did give birth to this little boy and in this sense was his mother, however she didn’t feel like a mother. Nonetheless, it hurt to hear a little child say something like this. She crouched down to eye level with the boy, then brushed back his black hair. “You’re doing just fine,” She whispered and smiled at him._

_“Can you help me? I don’t understand anything about this!” One little boy said to another. Taemin glanced up from the sheet he got from the professor, which he should finish until the next day. “I have to complete this, otherwise I have to stay and sleep in ‘the room’ and you know what that means,” Taemin hissed at the other boy, concentrating again on the paper in his hands. “You got more time to solve the questions!” He added a little agitated. They both were eight years old, but Taemin was way more intelligent than the other boy. Taemin didn’t dislike the other boy and he would like to help him out, but he didn’t want to stay in ‘the room’. Every time Taemin heard the professors tell him, that he had to stay in ‘the room’ if he didn’t complete his task in the given time, he did everything to finish the tasks until then._

_Staying in ‘the room’ meant several things, one, you won’t have a bed just the floor and a blanket, two, you either get one thing to eat for example a piece of bread or you won’t get anything at all and the scariest thing was the physical torture. They would hang them from the roof of the room with cuffs around their wrists and their toes faintly touching the floor. It didn’t matter if they had to go the toilet or if they were cold or were in pain. Depending on how much they didn’t finish they had to stay hours or even days in ‘the room’. Later, as Taemin grew older even spankings or whipping were included in ‘the room punishment’. That is one reason, why he never ever even thought about delaying a deadline for whatever task he got, and he never thought about talking back to someone._

In the hospital room, where Taemin laid with tubes and machines around him, they took turns to watch over him. Currently Seven and Saeran sat in the room, silently watching Taemin, who seemed to have a bad dream, because he had a frown on his face. “Not even unconscious like this he feels relaxed…,” Saeran murmured with a sigh. Seven looked from Saeran to Taemin and back to Saeran. “I’m very grateful that he brought you back and didn’t leave you there,” Seven said and smiled at Saeran. Saeran took one of Taemin’s hands in both of his, stroking the back of Taemin’s hand with one of his thumbs. “He is a very kind person,” Saeran said, now with a slight smile on his face too. “I hope he wakes up soon,” Seven whispered, while looking at his laptop. He was working on something, while watching over their party coordinator.

There was a knock on the door, few seconds later Jumin entered the room. “Hello Luciel and you must be Saeran?” The tall man said, while greeting them. Saeran just nodded and Seven jumped from his seat. “Jumin! Good that you are here, I need to go to the restroom,” As soon as he said that, Seven vanished out of the room. Jumin walked up to the bed. “I don’t know if you can hear me, nonetheless I am very thankful towards you. You protected my best friend and even rescued a family member of one our members. I hope that we can talk face to face soon and I can thank you properly. Also, you managed to communicate with the guests for the party, even if you were in such desperate situations, therefore we decided to not cancel the party and hold it as planned,” Jumin said to the unconscious Taemin. “It’s a shame that he can’t even participate in the party he worked so hard for. He would definitely deserve it,” Saeran said to Jumin.

“Agreed, however, we, the R.F.A. already decided to hold a party for ourselves as soon as he gets better,” Jumin announced, in the same moment Seven re-entered the room. “Thank you again Jumin, for helping him out with the doctor,” The redhead said and watched Taemin again. “The doctor told me, they examined him for other injuries and found old scars underneath his tattoos. They assume that he was physically and probably mentally abused in the past,” Jumin said in a stern voice. Saeran looked up, as soon as he heard that and looked at his brother. They nodded in silent agreement, because they both knew themselves how that felt. “V told me that he’s from an intelligence agency, which is currently searching for him. I already made some preparations regarding this matter, the only thing missing is Taemin’s approval,” Jumin told them.

 

Later that day, the sun was already setting, Vanderwood returned to the hospital. He switched ‘watching shifts’ with Seven and Saeran. Jumin had left the hospital in the afternoon. The brown-haired man seated himself directly next to the bed, instantly grabbing one of Taemin’s hands. “As I said before, I don’t want you to die,” He whispered with a sigh. Seven approached him before leaving the room. “Say, was he physically abused when you were staying at the agency?” Vanderwood rose his eyebrows and looked at Seven. He replied, “No, as long as I stayed there, he wasn’t physically harmed by anyone there. Why do you ask?” Seven glanced to Taemin and averted his amber eyes back to Vanderwood. “He was examined for other injuries and the doctors found old scars underneath his tattoos, which presumably descended from physical abuse,” Seven told Vanderwood and left the room.

The brown-haired man looked at Taemin’s face, still holding his hand. “I’d like to stay with you until you open your beautiful eyes again, however I don’t know if I will be able to, because of my work place…,” Vanderwood whispered and sighed heavily. One of his hands made its way to Taemin’s head, brushing through his crimson hair and caressing his scalp. “I am sorry Taemin, I really am sorry for what I did to you,” He said, even if he wasn’t sure if Taemin could hear him. “Is it too late to fix this? I want you so bad and all that we had…,” Vanderwood whispered, feeling a sting in his chest. Vanderwood knew there was nothing he could fix, as long as one of them was still a secret agent, there is nothing to fix.

Vanderwood laid his head onto the mattress, Taemin’s hand still in his, kissing the knuckles of Taemin’s fingers. It didn’t matter if they could never go back and that they won’t have a future like this, Vanderwood would forever cherish Taemin and the time he had with him. He half sat, half laid like this the whole time, watching Taemin, listening to the sound of the machines, stroking his hand and trying to shove his negative thoughts in the back of his head for now. Like this Vanderwood fell asleep and didn’t notice the nurse, who checked on Taemin and threw a blanket over him.

 

In the morning V came to the hospital, Vanderwood was still sleeping with his head on Taemin’s bed, holding his hand. Taemin was still unconscious too, but his facial features were more relaxed than before. V gently woke up Vanderwood, who instantly cursed his hurting neck. “Ugh, why did I fall asleep like that…,” He mumbled and stretched himself, his joints popping. “Good morning,” He finally said, while turning to V. “Good morning, I’m sorry to wake you up so early,” V began to apologize, but Vanderwood put him off with a wave of his hand. “It’s alright, I have to report to my work place and before that I have to get to 707,” Vanderwood sighed and looked at Taemin again. “He should take all the time he needs to recover and then wake up,” He said, stroking through crimson hair again. Vanderwood bent down a little, kissing Taemin on his forehead, whispering in his ear, “Take your time, but don’t forget to wake up, my little kitten. We’re all waiting for you.”

Vanderwood said his goodbyes to V, who was in charge now until lunch, then he had to get ready for the R.F.A. party, which sadly would be held without Taemin, who did most of the work by inviting the guests. Because in the end the guests were the most important piece, without them a charity party wouldn’t make much sense. “You helped us very much Taemin, we are all greatly indebted with you. I hope we can give you back as much as you did for us,” V said in his gently voice and added, “You didn’t just help the R.F.A. but you also helped me personally. Without you I wouldn’t have been able to overpower my shadow. I can move forward now, and I hope you will do the same, I will assist you with this, as you assisted me.”

 

Seven took Saeran in his bunker, where they now lived together. There was enough space, however Saeran didn’t know what he should do, because Seven was working most of the time for his agency. Early in the morning Vanderwood came and scolded Seven about how much junk was lying around yet again. “I am sure your brother isn’t that messy!” He said, while picking up Dr. Pepper cans. Saeran offered his help and Vanderwood gladly accepted. So, Saeran was sweeping the floor, at the same time Vanderwood took care of the laundry. “You know, I told you this before, however, Taemin wasn’t in the slightest as messy as you!” Seven ignored Vanderwood’s nagging and spun his chair. “Yeeees you told me almost every day since you came back, that he wasn’t as messy and lazy,” Seven said, still spinning.

“As he helped me recover at the Mint Eye, he undertaken my work to distract the savior… He worked day in and day out,” Saeran added and Seven sighed annoyed. He put his hands on his ears and said, “Nanana, I can’t hear you~” Vanderwood shook his head. “What a child,” He breathed out and collected the dirty clothes from Seven’s bedroom. Saeran looked at Vanderwood and had a puzzled face. “I’m just doing this, because I want him to do his work. He is the master of procrastination. If he was supposed to do his household alone plus his work, he wouldn’t get done at all,” Vanderwood explained why he cleaned the place. “I didn’t miss this at all,” He sighed and stuffed the clothes in the washing machine. “Did you eat?” He then asked Saeran, who shook his head. “Pancakes?” Saeran asked sheepishly. Vanderwood chuckled at that and nodded.

 

The R.F.A. party was a big success, of course the members were happy that the party was this good, but there was a little sadness because of Taemin’s absence. They all were nervous and excited to see their new member in person, but unfortunately that had to wait for now. “He is a really kind person in real life too,” V said to the other members. “But he will be probably a little shy with so many people, even if he doesn’t look like it,” Seven added. “I am looking forward to play LOLOL with him again!” Yoosung exclaimed excited, which got him a sigh from Jaehee. “The highest priority is for him to wake up and get better first, then we have to secure his safety,” Jumin declared in his stern tone. “Is he more beautiful than me?” Zen asked V and Seven, which got him a little chuckle from V and eye-rolling from Yoosung and Seven. “He is beautiful, however you two can’t be compared,” V answered the question.

 

_Taemin jumped from his childhood and teenage years to the past two years. The time he fell for someone he knew as Stark. A man at least as mysterious as himself. Silky light brown hair, which fell slightly over his shoulders, almond brown eyes, which could look at you with loving warmth or beastly lust. They both were laying on Taemin’s bed looking up the ceiling, where the stars from the starry sky projector were floating. “I could do this all night long, just laying here with you, looking at the ‘stars’,” Taemin said, turning his head to look at the man beside him. Stark didn’t avert his eyes from the ceiling but had a smile on his handsome face. “Well, I can think about other things to do with you here with me,” He said and grinned. “Tsk, there you go again,” Taemin answered chuckling._

_Stark turned around and took Taemin in his embrace. “How could I resist someone like you, little kitten?” He asked and kissed Taemin’s cheek. Taemin turned in Stark’s embrace and snuggled into his chest. A sigh escaped him. “I was like an ice brick towards you, you should have been able to resist me,” Taemin said laughing. “Ice brick, yeah. However, I saw the cute little kitten inside this ice and wanted to melt it,” Stark replied, running his fingers over Taemin’s back. “Gosh, you are so fucking cheesy sometimes, making me wanna puke,” Taemin said, pretending to gag. “Dumbass…,” Stark hissed and flicked his finger against Taemin’s forehead. Taemin chuckled and pressed himself even tighter against Stark. “Even if it’s making me want to puke, I like it, when you say cheesy things. It’s making me so ticklish inside,” Taemin whispered and Stark could feel his warm breath against his neck._

Suddenly he felt pain in his abdomen and ripped open his eyes. The bright light from the ceiling dazzling him. He couldn’t speak, because of the mask on his mouth, which helped him breathing. Confused he tried to look around and saw a bunch of people in the room. Seven and Saeran sitting at the visitor table, V and Vanderwood on each side of his bed. “Taemin?!” Vanderwood was the first to react, which startled the crimson haired young man a little. “Stark…,” He whispered and blinked a few times, his eyelids still feeling heavy. Vanderwood pressed the alarm button and shortly after a nurse came into the room, taking of the air-mask. “Can you breathe? Is everything alright?” She asked Taemin, who just nodded, but when he shifted a little he hissed in pain.

“Hurts…,” He said throaty. “Wait a moment, I get the doctor and some painkillers,” The nurse said and left the room. The twins and V turned their attention to Taemin now too. “Welcome back,” Seven said with a smirk and Taemin could see the relief in Saeran’s eyes. “You got us worried, sleepy head,” V said gently. “I’m glad, I am so glad…,” Vanderwood murmured more to himself, but smiled at Taemin. “How long was I gone?” Taemin asked, his voice still raspy. “Almost two weeks,” Seven answered and the only response Taemin had for this was a ’oh’. Before they could say anything more the nurse came back with the doctor, who also performed the surgery on Taemin. He checked the wound and changed the bandages. Then Taemin got some painkillers. “He highly likely will sleep some more when the medication begins to take effect,” The nurse said and left the room with the doctor.

“Sleep as long as you need to, we will wait for you. When you open your eyes the next time, someone will be there as well, maybe not as many as today, but someone will be there for you,” V said with a smile. “Thank you… all of you,” Taemin answered, already feeling like falling asleep again. “Stark, please don’t forget me…,” He whispered to the brown-haired man on his left side. Vanderwood took his hand again, kissing his knuckles. “Never will I ever forget you, little kitten,” He whispered, brushing his fingers through Taemin’s hair and stroking his cheek. Taemin smiled tiered and closed his eyes again, falling asleep almost instantly.

 

Because of his medication, which contained antibiotics and painkillers, the next few weeks felt like a trip on a fluffy cloud within a bubble. Taemin wasn’t able to have a coherent thought let alone a conversation, however he was never alone, as they promised him. Every time he was awake, and his senses were working fine, someone was with him. Seven and Saeran mostly were silent but kept him company. Vanderwood and V were always giving him encouraging words, although Vanderwood sometimes was harsh on him, but that’s how he always was. It made him chuckle on the inside.

It took some more weeks for his wound to get better. At the surgery they had to repair and stitch together a damaged organ and, of course, his skin, however the knife was somehow coated with chemicals, which lead to a severe infection of the wound. That was the reason why it took so long to get better. The infection was gone now, and it began to heal even better. Taemin had to stay at the hospital just a few more days as a check, if everything would stay as it was, then he could be discharged from the hospital. Jumin and V had both rooms to spare and offered Taemin, that he could stay there. “Well, I don’t have anywhere else to stay, except from a hotel room…,” Taemin said lost in thoughts. “I would have asked you to stay with me, however I don’t know if you even want to and the most time I’m at 707’s place,” Vanderwood said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Taemin looked surprised at Vanderwood and smiled. “Would’ve been nice, if you were there, but if you’re mostly outside…,” He whispered, blushing slightly. Taemin looked at V, who gave him a gently smile, as always. Taemin thought, that V was just too pure for this world. Of course, he had some twisted thoughts about his love for some time with Rika, however he came to his senses and now he was even more pure. “I really don’t want to burden anyone of you. You know I’m not helpless, just hopeless,” He said, slightly laughing. “You are not hopeless,” The four said in unison, which made all of them laugh. Taemin shook his head in disbelieve. “Well, if y’all say so,” He huffed pouting. “Gaah, so cute!” Seven exclaimed, getting an angry glance from Taemin.

 

Later that day Jumin came to the hospital, because he offered Taemin a place to stay too and wanted to speak with him in person. “Nice to meet you Taemin, I’m Jumin Han,” The black-haired tall man said, politely shaking their hands. “Nice to meet you too,” He said eyeing Jumin from head to toe. “Thank you for offering me a place to stay, however, as I said to the others already, I don’t want to burden anyone,” Taemin said, but was cut off from Jumin. “You did a lot for us as an organization, you did help my best friend to change and move on and helped one of the members to reunite with their family. Most importantly it isn’t much of a burden for me to provide you with a place to stay and a safe one at that,” Jumin said sternly. Taemin looked at Jumin and thought, “Yeah, of course… you’re the CEO-in-line from C&R…” Taemin sighed defeated.

“I think I’ll go with Jumin,” Taemin announced his decision. “Good choice,” Jumin said and Taemin smiled nervously. “After you recovered fully, the other members like to meet you in person too, if that is okay with you,” V said and Taemin nodded. “I’d like to meet them too, they are always so kind and fun in the chatrooms,” He said beaming at everyone in the room. “Well then, I will excuse myself, I have to make some preparations to do before I receive my guest,” Jumin said and left the room. Seven and Saeran excused themselves too. Which left V and Vanderwood. V stood up from his chair. “I think I have an appointment this afternoon. Vanderwood, please take care of Taemin for the time being,” V said, smiling at them both, then leaving the room too. “Did they just flee or something?” Taemin asked confused with a frown on his face.

“Don’t be upset,” Vanderwood said, smiling at him. Taemin locked eyes with Vanderwood and thought about his dreams, which were his memories. “I dreamed about our time together,” Taemin admitted, he didn’t avert his eyes. Vanderwood looked a little surprised but didn’t say anything. Taemin bit his lower lip and brushed through his hair. After the dispute they had, it felt a little uncomfortable to be alone with Vanderwood. “I want to apologize again Taemin, I’m really sorry about what happened. I thought about the consequence way too late. Well, the rich guy from before has some good plans up his sleeve. He can help you get a new life,” Vanderwood said with a sad smile. “And maybe it would be the best if I vanished out of your life for good this time. Not that I wanted to, but it would probably be the best for you,” He added gloomy.

Taemin had a scowl on his face and made a protesting sound. “Forget that Stark,” He said demanding. Vanderwood rose his eyes, looking into emerald green ones. Taemin did know that Vanderwood was still an agent, however it didn’t change anything for his feelings and assumingly not for Vanderwood’s either. “Whatever happened, I believe you, that you had good intensions in the end. I felt your affection towards me, you know I have a sixth sense for something like this,” Taemin said, smiling. “I like you very much too Stark. You made me fall for you so hard, even if I find someone else interesting, you will always pop up in my head,” He added. Vanderwood was surprised to hear something like this from Taemin. He rarely spoke about his feelings in general and hearing this confession was truly surprising. “I made you fall for me? I didn’t even do much, it’s more likely the other way around. I never thought to ever have feelings this deep and strong for another person again,” Vanderwood said, taking Taemin’s hand in his own. They shared a long glance before their lips met reluctant, then the ice melted away and the kiss got deeper. They both poured their feelings for each other into this one kiss.


End file.
